A Steel Heart
by Orcbait7
Summary: This is the story about a man who is a professor at Beacon Academy, his name is Andrew Tinman. He has been teaching at Beacon for nearly seven years and has seen many different types of students come and go but this years batch of new students will surprise him. This all takes place within the establish story.
1. She'll be here sooner or later

One evening in the kingdom of Vale at the school known as Beacon there was a professor that was looking forward to a quiet night to relax and ready himself for the new term to start in a couple of days. This man was known as Professor Andrew Tinman and he was one of the leading combat experts not only at Beacon but in all the huntsman academies. His appearance was that of a mid-thirties man with a mess of black hair on his head, stubble on his face that was kept nice and trimmed and a body that was always kept in shape. He would be unassuming man if not for a few glaring differences in the form of cybernetic implants in several areas of his body. His left eye, ear and forehead, the entirety of his right arm, most of his abdomen and his whole left leg were all robotic and the metal was coloured a faded gold. His clothes revealed the fact that even though he was a professor at Beacon, he did not care how people viewed him. He wore a military styled navy blue long sleeve shirt covered with an old green jacket which had seen its fair share of adventures. His trousers looked like a cross between combat and casual wear and were a much lighter blue than his shirt, but these were partly covered by his large steel toe capped black boots which had four buckles on each one.

His small flat where he lived only had three rooms, a living area cross kitchen, a bathroom, and a bedroom. This was still more room than he would ever really need as most of his work he did in his office that was in the school. He only ever did work here if he had real need to as when he was at home, he like to switch off from everything else around him.

He was enjoying a late evening drink in his private rooms when suddenly, his scroll started to vibrate on his desk and he was inclined not to answer it but he knew he would most likely regret it. He stood up and walked over to where his scroll was and opened it to reveal a message from Glynda Goodwitch and it was an interesting message at that. It appeared Glynda had had a run in with a dangerous individual but in the process come across a huntress in training that Ozpin seemed interested in. Ozpin was on his way to see this young girl and wanted Andrew to attend so he could see her for himself, Glynda had sent him the details of where they would be if he was interested in coming along.

"Okay, colour me intrigued." And with that he put his scroll in his pocket, finished his drink and left his room within seconds.

When he arrived at the interrogation room where the girl was being held, Ozpin was standing outside the room preparing a coffee for himself.

"Evening Professor." He called out. Ozpin looked up and smiled whilst still pouring his drink into his own mug.

"Ah good evening Andrew, I'm glad you could make it." Ozpin replied

"I came as soon as Glynda messaged me, not sure why you wanted me to come but if you wanted me here then so be it."

"There was a robbery this evening at a dust store and it was thwarted by a girl wielding a scythe with some skill. I wanted to question her and I thought you could add something to this."

"Add something? Like what? Questions, opinions, what?" Before Ozpin could answer they both heard a girl shouting " _They started it!"_ and both men looked towards the room then each other.

"She sounds young, too young. Are you sure about this?" Andrew asked. Ozpin grabbed his mug as well as plate full of cookies and then said

"Let's see shall we" and with a smile and he entered the room. Andrew half-smiled as he shook his head and followed in behind. When he walked in he saw a young girl, just as he guessed from the tone of her voice. She was small with dark hair that had red coloured tips, she was wearing a black corset style top with sleeves and a long bright red hood and cape.

"Ruby Rose." Ozpin said and Andrew thought the name sounded familiar but couldn't quite put his finger on it. But Ozpin wasn't finished talking "You…...have silver eyes." That is when he noticed the colour of her eyes, he was sure he had seen that trait before.

While Ozpin was showing her the surveillance footage of the robbery, Andrew wasn't paying attention to him and shot a glance at Glynda which said _Are you serious?_ She replied with a shrug and nodded in Ozpin's direction.

"They taught you how to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?"

"Well one teacher in particular" Ruby answered to which Ozpin offered her the plate of cookies. She hesitated before taking one then took several more in a flash. Andrew wasn't one for standing still so started to walk around the room, clasping his real hand in his cybernetic one. The conversation continued but when he heard Qrow's name and that she was related to him he finally remembered who those eyes belonged to. _No way_ he thought to himself. When Ozpin asked her why she wanted to slay monsters, Ruby started to babble on at such a speed that Andrew was only catching odd words. Then the last part of her speech really hit home.

"The police are all right, but huntsmen and huntresses are just so much more romantic, exciting, cool!" followed by a sound of pure excitement. Andrew had now moved behind her and when she finished talking he slammed his cybernetic fist down on the table next to her, causing her to not only jump but squeal as well. He lent in to her with his cybernetic face side facing hers so close they were almost touching and with a dark voice he said

"Not as much as you would believe, little girl" she looked straight into his robot eye ignoring the rest of his face. Ozpin razed his hand, telling Andrew to back off. Once he was out of view Ruby, she eventually started to turn back to Ozpin but staying aware that he was still behind her. Andrew started to switch off again as Ruby and Ozpin continued talking so he moved back to where he was originally standing. Only coming back into the room when Ozpin asked

"You want to come to my school?"

"More than anything." Ruby replied. He looked at Glynda who rolled her head and then he looked at Andrew. He knew Ozpin would do what he wanted to do regardless of his opinion so he sighed and dropped his head.

"Well O.K." he said back to Ruby who was looking back in amazement. Andrew then shook his head and left the room without saying another word.

He stood outside and waited for them to finish, it was only another five minutes before Ozpin came out followed but Glynda escorting Ruby. Ozpin then turned to Ruby and said

"I will see you in a few days miss Rose."

"Sure! You won't regret it!" then Ruby was walked off by Glynda. Ozpin turned to Andrew and gave him a smile.

"You made a good first impression on her Andrew. Don't you think that was a bit harsh on the girl." Andrew scoffed

"No, if it had worked she would not have taken you up on that offer." He then pushed himself away from the wall he was leaning against and started to walk off.

"Give her a chance, I do believe she will surprise you." Ozpin called after him. Andrew stopped but didn't turn around

"Only if she grows up about ten years by this time tomorrow." And then continued walking away, hearing Ozpin laugh behind him. Andrew would never disrespect Ozpin's decision as he owed him more than his life was worth, but he did think that Ruby should have at least thought about the offer first.

 _Whatever happens now, that's what will be._ He thought to himself and decided that he needed another drink, or three.


	2. My Tears Won't Fall

A few days later, the new year had started at Beacon and Andrew knew he would need to be up early and be ready to greet the new students as well as the old ones. This year was however going to be different as he was going to be paying particular attention to one individual in the new comers to see if they were indeed worthy of Ozpin's respect. He dressed himself quickly, finished his cup of tea and then left his room, while on his way to the main campus he took in the sights of the school. It made him feel calm, in all the years it had been since he had graduated he noticed that it had hardly changed a bit.

He reached the main hall just in time to see the transport ship arrive to deliver the new set of students.

"Another year, another set of kids who think they know everything." With a wicked smile, he continued. "I will love to prove them wrong." He then turned around and entered the main hall.

Just over an hour later all the students had piled into the main hall and Andrew used his eye to scan the crowd. He could see them all looking at him at the back of the stage but didn't care one bit, they would all see him eventually so best to get the staring out of the way as soon as possible. Suddenly his scanner flashed green indicating that it had found its target. Ruby Rose seem to be in the arms of another girl and a third girl with a rather angry look on her face shouting at her.

"So far so good." He said to himself while being rather unimpressed over her current situation.

"I know she's not grown ten years but you could let her try before you judge her." Came Ozpins voice from behind him. He was about to reply but then realised that Ozpin was about to do his welcoming speech so stayed quiet.

Once the speech was over, Ozpin walked off where by Glynda walked over to the microphone to take over so Andrew then proceeded to followed Ozpin off stage but went into a quick jog to catch him up.

"Enlightening as always sir." He said with a dry half smile. He saw that Ozpin didn't change his expression.

"It was the truth, until they commit themselves to this then all they are doing is wasting energy. I have a feeling though that this year's group has caught your attention more than most." Andrew snorted as he knew what Ozpin was talking about.

"I trust you Ozpin, I just don't want you to be let down by her. I still think she's been jumped ahead too soon."

"You are not the only one who thinks that, Glynda also feels that way but she is less…vocal about it."

"I'll guess we will have to wait till tomorrow to find out if she has what it takes to live up to your expectations. I don't envy her though."

"Why are you leaning so hard on her? She has every right to be here like any other hunter in training but you will not see that. Is this to do with…" Before Ozpin could finish his sentence, Andrew stopped dead and grabbed Ozpin's right arm which in turn caused him to stop. With a look of anger taking over his face, Andrew slowly began taking deep breaths to calm himself down and only when he returned to normal did he notice he was grabbing Ozpin. He let go instantly while immediately regretting that action and it showed in his face.

"I'm sorry Andrew, I know that is a very personal subject for you, but you must understand. Ruby maybe young now but we all have to start somewhere, and you cannot label her as failure before she has even had the chance to prove otherwise." In contrast to Andrews previous actions, Ozpin placed a firm and reassuring hand on his left shoulder. Feeling ashamed over what he did, he could not look his mentor in the eye. "Please my friend, have a little patience and I know she will surprise you."

"As much as I would like to say it I can't. I still believe that she should have finished her time a Signal then come here. She is not at the right level to fully understand or appreciate the true task of a huntress." Finally, he turned back to Ozpin whose face was the kind and supportive one it had always been. "I've taken enough of your time sir, I will leave you in peace. I have plenty of things to take care of before tomorrow's exam." He did not move until Ozpin removed his hand which he did a few seconds later before smiling and nodding for him to continue. Andrew made his half-smile back and walked away rather more quickly than he really should have done.

This was nothing against Ozpin at all, he was more disgusted at himself as a wave of emotions and forced forgotten memories came flooding to the forefront of his mind. He reached the end of the corridor that led to the outside and peeled off to a more secluded part of the campus where he sat down on a stone bench overlooking the view that Beacon possessed. Once seated his body began to tremble as he tried to keep his thoughts in check, each one creating a new emotion. Anger, fear, happiness and finally guilt, remorse and shame. It was a long time before he was back to his normal self but even then, his face still looked as though it was haggard. Feeling calm he looked out over the cliff side and wiped the water from his eye. His thoughts finally returned to that of Ruby.

"Tomorrow we'll see then but I'm not making any promises. If she fails, then she will be sent back to Signal and try again when she's a little older. If she succeeds, then all that means is she's made it through the door and her real test will begin." He knew the test was dangerous and she had as much a chance as any other student but it's not about getting through it unharmed, it's about finding where you fit in a much larger world.

He stood up, brushed himself down and went to return to his room where he hoped he would be able to get some rest before tomorrow. But because of his current mental state he was concerned that his sleep would be plagued by unwanted thoughts trapped in his subconscious which he had only just put back.

"One step at a time." He said to himself already knowing it would not be a quick fix.

He tried to get his mind to switch off, but it couldn't be helped as he was still feeling unhinged and the thoughts of the results of tomorrows test weighed heavily on him. He was sitting at his desk trying to get some work done when he received a call. He picked up and answered

"Tinman here." On the other side of the screen he saw Glynda's face "Ah good evening Glynda." He continued.

"Evening Andrew how are you feeling. I saw you earlier at your spot by the cliff-side and wondered if there's anything I can do to help?" Andrew knew that a few of the teachers in the school knew of his calming spot but not all of them knew why he went there. Fortunately, Glynda was one of only three people who knew why, and she was kind enough not to disturb him while he was there.

"I'm fine now Glynda…Thank you. I'm just sitting here sorting out some of my classes for the next few weeks." He could see that Glynda didn't quite believe him, but she let the matter drop.

"Well if you need a hand you know where to find me. I did have another reason as to why I called you though." Her tone was professional, so Andrew replied the same.

"Well what can I do for you then Glynda?"

"I was wondering if you could supervise the great hall this evening, the students have finished supper and will be retiring to bed soon and we need someone to make sure that they…. Behave themselves." Andrew snorted as he was fully aware of what Glynda was referring to. A room full of underage teenagers who were more hormones than common sense couldn't be left unsupervised as it could lead to complications before the year even started.

"I'm guessing that the other professors are busy then?" he asked

"No, it's just that you were the first person on my list to ask." She paused briefly before continuing "I also know that you may have trouble sleeping so I thought this could take your mind off things."

 _Kill two birds with one stone_ he thought to himself. As Glynda was aware of his condition, she was the main professor that covered for him when it flared up and he could not perform his duties. He knew she was trying to be kind to him by giving him a chance to replace his old complaints with some new ones. With a half-arsed reply, he said.

"Sure, might as well because if I can't have any fun this evening then I'll make sure none of them do either." This made Glynda smile

"Very well then, I'll inform Professor Ozpin of your decision. They will be getting ready in just less than an hour so you may want to get over there quickly."

"Can I at least get a drink first?" he asked

"You can but who knows what they will have gotten up to by then? Goodnight Andrew, have a pleasant evening." Before he could reply she ended the conversation. He made a quick laugh and got out of his chair, finished his whisky in one shot, annoyed he couldn't savour it longer and left for the main hall. Even though it was not how he wanted to spend his evening, he was happy that Glynda was looking out for him. She knew that when he was like this, sleep would be next to impossible and that if he had something else to focus on then he might he able to catch forty winks at some point.


	3. Just Like Highschool

He reached the hall for the second time that day and walked in seeing that most of the students were getting ready for bed but knew that they wouldn't actually go to sleep for another couple of hours yet. _The problem with them being teenagers_ he thought to himself. The hall was noisy but not loud so he took his chance at getting their attention now before it was impossible.

"Good Evening Students!" he called out from the main door which made the noise stop almost instantly. When he could see that he had their undivided attention he continued.

"Now as some of you have guessed, I'm here to make sure you all behave yourselves this evening. That means if you do anything which might be considered inappropriate then I have the right to make you regret it instantly." All the students seemed to get the message from the looks on their faces. "Good I'm glad we understand each other, and by the way I'm professor Tinman before any of you start thinking I'm the janitor or something." He made his half-smile and then stated to walk through the hall, noting that several of the students made a little too long eye contact with his cybernetic eye. He reached the storage closet and opened it up to find the bedding kept in there for this purpose, he always felt a bit stupid whenever he had to do this but if these students did start taking liberties this early on then there would be no hope for them later.

After he pulled out what he needed he took it all to the balcony overlooking the room and set it up. Once finished he looked down at the room and noticed that it was considerably quieter than when he first entered. He was slightly happier about that as he thought they would more than likely go to sleep earlier and he could try and look over his notes on his scroll before he too tried to get some sleep.

After an hour, the students did indeed start to go to sleep but a few lingered on awake so Andrew had to keep an eye on them. Luckily his cybernetic eye could watch them and alert him to any problems while his normal eye could read his notes on his scroll. This was a talent that took a few years to perfect because his brain still thought his eyes should work together and caused him no end of motion sickness. Just as he reached a point where he thought everything would be fine he heard a loud " _Helllooooo"_ coming from down stairs so instantly switched both eyes to the offending person. He saw it was a girl with very long blond hair and wearing quite revealing pyjamas, Andrew rolled his eyes at her thinking that she should really cover up a bit more but that wasn't his place to say. She was also dragging another girl and then Andrew sighed when he saw it was Ruby Rose.

"Must be a friend of hers." He said to himself and saw they were going to talk to another girl who he couldn't see properly so gave up on the situation noting it as just students getting to know each other. As he started to get back into his notes he was then interrupted by a commotion and wasn't surprised to see the same three girls were involved in the ruckus, it seemed to be Ruby and the blond were the main focus of the event.

"Doing well aren't we miss Rose." With that he got up and started to walk down the stairs and by the time he reached the bottom another girl had join the commotion, a girl with long white hair, a scar over her left eye and pale skin that was almost white. The group were becoming very loud so he marched over at a quicker pace but being very careful as to make as little noise as possible. When he was almost upon them, the girl sitting down had noticed him approaching them, she had long black hair and a bow on top, yellow eyes and a narrower face. She was trying to tell the other three girls that he was coming but they were in a full argument and were not paying any attention to anyone else. Now Andrew was standing right behind Ruby and decided it was the best time to make his presence known so he started by clearing his throat. All three girls span round to face him, and they all went silent so Andrew half-smiled and said

"Now then ladies, could I ask you why you are making such noise? Particularly since there are many other students trying to sleep in preparation for tomorrow." Ruby was stuck in stunned silence and had gone quite pale.

"That is why I had come over here, to tell them to be quiet for that reason Professor Tinman" said the white-haired girl while sending a cold glare towards the blond hair girl."

"No one asked you to come over here!" the other girl shouted back. Andrew rolled his head.

"So, you thought by shouting at them to be quiet it would make things better?" The white-haired girl looked rather embarrassed at the statement.

"And if you hadn't been making a scene in the first place then she wouldn't have needed to get involved." Turning to the blond girl.

"Whatever teach." Was her reply with no respect at all. That was something he couldn't stand for

"Erm Yang" Ruby tried to say before Andrew took another step towards her.

"What did you say?" he asked with a voice dripping was malice. Yang turned to face him and he saw a change in her attitude.

"I mean sorry professor." She reluctantly said to which Andrew nodded

"That's better, now if all of you would kindly get some sleep before anything else happens and I'm forced to make an example out of all of you" he gave a quick glance to all four in turn in which they all quietly nodded. He then turned around and headed back to his own bed. Before he got too far away his enhanced hearing in his left cybernetic ear heard Yang say under her breath

"He really needs to work that stick out of his butt" and Ruby snickered but stopped abruptly when Andrew did.

"If you're going to insult someone, at least say it to their face" he said back turning his head so his cybernetic side was facing them. Ruby was once again white as a sheet and Yang was standing to one side with her arms folded. Under his cybernetic gaze, she eventually lowered her head and Andrew then proceeded on his way back to his bed. When he was back, he looked over the hall to see the girls had done what he said and now the whole hall was almost sound asleep. He then chuckled to himself

"That Yang doesn't lack for confidence, I can't wait to see how she fairs with Glynda." Without knowing it his mind had started to forget about his problems and he was instead laughing to himself over his soon to be possible new students. Before long he found himself slowly slipping into a dreamless sleep.


	4. It's time to Unleash the Panic

Andrew awoke the following morning earlier than all the students and had a quick stretch, even though he had slept on bedding it was still not the most comfortable of places to sleep. Suddenly he realised that he had fallen asleep…with no problems what so ever and on top of that with no dreams. He sighed

"You were right Glynda." He said to himself, acknowledging her advice. He was so worked up on the students he manged to sleep on a bad day. After that he started to tidy up his bedding and then put it to one side so he could put it away later when all the students were up. He then walked down the stairs and very quietly made his way through the sleeping students and out the door, as he closed the door he took out his scroll to see the time was 05:39.

"I've got time to get a shower and some breakfast before I'm needed at the emerald forest." He then felt his left shoulder crack out and then into place because of how he had been sleeping on it. It was a fleeting pain which only confirmed that a nice warm shower was needed to relieve his aching joints.

A few hours later he was cleaned up and prepared for the first exam with the new students so when he left his flat, he almost appeared to be a different man. As he was walking through the courtyard, he saw that many students were now up and about, hopefully getting ready for the day ahead. Some of the students passing by even said good morning to him which he replied in kind.

Soon he was at Glynda's office and was about to knock on the door but it instead opened with Ozpin and Glynda on the other side.

"Good morning Andrew, I trust you slept well?" Ozpin asked

"Yeah, pretty well actually. Thank you and thank you Glynda." Glynda smiled back at him

"Think nothing of it. I hope the students did not keep you up to late." She said

"Not at all, after stopping a certain number of students from starting a shouting match everything was then remarkably peaceful." He saw Ozpin raze and eyebrow and sip his coffee at the same time.

"Indeed. Very well if you are ready then shall we proceed to the cliff side for the Exam?" Andrew nodded so Ozpin continued "Glynda, would you mind calling all of the first years to the exam site please"

"Very well" she said and headed off to the broadcast room.

"I'm glad you slept well my friend, I was worried about you after yesterday. Again, I must apologise for…" before Ozpin could finish Andrew interrupted him by holding his hand up.

"No apologies necessary sir, I can assure you I'm fine. Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing how today's events will unfold. I'm very interested to see if there are any individuals that might make me take note." Then together they both went off to the cliff side and would await the arrival of the potential first years.

When all the students had gathered on the cliff side, Ozpin, Glynda and Andrew were standing ready to begin the exam. Ozpin started to go through the rules of the exam followed by Glynda's explanation of the teams and how partners would be formed which definitely made Ruby scream out in panic. As Ozpin finished his explanation that ended on the question section, Andrew released a remote from his cybernetic arm and it shot straight into the hand of the same arm.

"I hope you are all ready for this, there's no turning back now." He said with a wicked glint in his eye and pressed the button which started the catapults that all the students were standing on. As each one was being fired there was one young boy who hadn't grasped the fact that Ozpin's question section was more of a joke than anything else. When it was his turn to be fired, Andrew waited till he was in the middle of a question before sending him on his way.

"So, what exactly is this landing stra…" and then Andrew pressed the button, sending him flying. Glynda and Ozpin both looked straight at Andrew who just chuckled back to which they then watched the students fly towards the forest.

"How much would you bet that boy doesn't make it back." He said

"Andrew!" Glynda shouted

"What, you were both thinking it" The three of them then began watching different feeds from the forest and the students as they began to pair up. There was only one person that Andrew was interested in and she wasn't fairing so well.

"Miss Rose and Miss Schnee. I didn't know that was Winters sister that I scolded last night." He said

"What did you say?" asked Glynda

"Oh, just that Ruby and a girl called Yang got into an argument with Schnee last night. If I had known who she was then I would have made a more lasting impression." Ozpin turned to Andrew

"You also failed to notice that Yang is the daughter of Taiyang Xiao Long." Andrew was shocked hearing this.

"No way! Shows how long it's been since I last saw him. She was just a little sprog, time does fly by when you're not paying attention."

"Indeed" Ozpin remarked

Just then the camera feed showed Ruby and Weiss fighting several Beowolf's, Weiss was trying to treat the fight as a form of fencing battle just as Ruby abruptly charged in and almost got herself hit with her partner's attack. Not only was Andrew severally unimpressed by both their actions but he was also becoming angry over the fact that this was Ruby's chance to make a good impression on him and she was failing, badly.

 _If you make Ozpin look bad, then I will throw you out of Beacon from the cliff myself_ Andrew thought as he kept watching. This was just what he didn't want to happen, between Ozpin or himself being proven wrong in any situation he would always prefer it to be himself.

He continued watching the pair as they argued and bickered over their current situation and showed no signs of achieving their objective. Now he was not only disappointed with Ruby but Weiss was doing little better so was also in trouble of a long walk of a short cliff. During this time, Ozpin took notice of how Andrew was feeling

"Have you already decided their fate before they have finished their exam?" He asked. Andrew looked up from his scroll before answering

"I doubt they will ever finish the exam at the rate they're going. Looks like Ruby wasn't the only one who wasn't ready for this."

"And your exam went that much better?" Ozpin laughed and this made Andrew remember his entrance exam. Thinking about it he had to admit that Ozpin had a point but still he was doing better by this time in the test.

After a while all the students had paired up and Andrew was starting to look at them all in turn, some were good partners and had chosen well. Others were not so good, in particular Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos. While Pyrrha was an accomplished fighter with several tournaments wins under her belt, Jaune was showing that he had not one ounce of skill to his name thus making the pair far less effective and running the risk of both being killed as a consequence. Andrew then brought up the transfer papers for Jaune to see what they said. Per what was written he graduated Signal and was a fairly average student with nothing marking him down but just as equally nothing razing him from the others. Andrew decided that if Jaune passed the exam then he would consider it further as there was no guarantee that he was going to survive the day.

Sometime later after a few artefacts had been taken from the shine, Andrew switched back to Ruby and Weiss to see how well they were doing and was shocked to find them hanging from a Nevermore.

"What the hell? When did this happen?" he said aloud to which Ozpin just quietly watched the situation unfold. Realising he wasn't going to get a response he looked back at his scroll to find that Ruby was now falling from the sky, leaving her partner alone and still clutching on to the Grimm.

 _A fine way to treat your partner_ he thought while disapprovingly shaking his head. The chaos that followed between four sets of pairs made him almost cringe as none of the eight students seemed to know what was going on.

"This is a joke! It has to be! Ozpin sir, you must see this now! I admit that I was focused on Ruby but now I can see that none of these students seem to know what's going on! This is going to be the highest casualty rate in the history of this school!" Even after all his shouting, Ozpin just watched and took a quick sip of his coffee. Glynda however did take notice of his attitude.

"Come now Andrew, they all passed the entrance test so they wouldn't be here if they couldn't handle this. They will pull themselves together, just wait and see."

"Or they won't." Andrew shot back and went on watching the exam.

All of a sudden it was like a switch had been flipped as the eight students were forced into a fight with a huge Nevermore and a Deathstalker. The two Grimm caused the eight to split into two teams of four and Andrew watched on as they dealt with the new threat. The Deathstalker was killed by using its own stinger against it and he was slightly impressed at the ingenuity of the four. The Nevermore was then killed by a planned team effort led by Ruby using something from each member of the four.

"Are you impressed yet?" Andrew heard Glynda say. He snorted before he replied

"Not yet but they are on the right lines. Let's see them when they're with their true teams." Glynda laughed at the fact that Andrew would not except he might be wrong, let alone that he would be impressed by anyone.

"That's more then you were giving them yesterday so I think I will take that as a positive." Ozpin said while looking towards Glynda and joining her laugh with a smile of his own.

"I'm glad I can offer you some amusement." Andrew retorted deciding that the exam was as good as done and would just needed to wait for the students to return to the cliff so they could be assigned teams.

Within the hour all the pairs started to arrive and once the last pair reach the top Ozpin announced

"Congratulations to all of you for finishing the exam and retrieving the Artefacts from the forest temple. Now find the other pair that have the same piece as yourselves then we will return to the main hall where the other years will be waiting for you to be given your team names."

There was some hubbub as all the students found their new team mates and somehow Andrew wasn't surprised to see that the two teams he had spent most of the exam watching were now officially teams at Beacon. Once it was all done the group started to make their way to the school apart from Andrew who held back a little so as to walk behind the students. He saw Ruby look at him for a moment and he simply stared back at her, only for a few seconds and then turned to look out over the cliff side. She then lowered her head and turned towards her friends while they walked on towards the main hall.

"I hope you are ready for what's to come next Miss Rose." He said to himself. After a couple of minutes, he then started to walk in the direction of the main hall but kept an eye out for any students that had fallen behind. He'd lost track of time when he reached the main hall and he saw that the naming ceremony was well under way.

"Oops. Guess I was slower than I thought." He then watched as a team walked on stage.

"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white ruck pieces, from this day forward you will work together as team JNPR. Led by Jaune Arc." Andrew had to keep his jaw from hitting the floor in utter disbelief.

"Ozpin, you must be joking! Out of all of them you choose him!" Andrew was beginning to believe that Ozpin was doing all this on purpose with the students this year. Was he trying to make him go mad or was he trying to elicit a more human response from him? Even though this wasn't his first choice he still applauded the team, all be it not as vigorously as he should have done.

"And finally, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward you shall work together as team RWBY, led by Ruby Rose."

"Now that one proves it." Andrew said and didn't bother staying for the end of the ceremony as he walked out of the hall. He was feeling extremely tired, after the previous night's uncomfortable sleep and today's excitement. He was really looking forward to sleeping in his own bed and writing this day off as a prank set up by Ozpin and Glynda.


	5. What will you do now?

Now that the excitement of the first year's exam was out of the way, the school could finally begin its term properly with all the years starting their lessons today. Andrew was up and out of his flat and walking towards the school grounds that were not far for him. Not having much of a social life, he liked living on the school grounds as he could focus all his attention on training his students. He rounded a corner and waited by leaning against the wall for Ozpin to arrive. He didn't have to wait long as he saw him off in the distance also being accompanied by Glynda and when they were closer he pushed away from the wall to greet them.

"Morning." He called to them and they replied in kind.

"Morning Andrew, ready for the day's trails ahead?" Ozpin asked

"Ready as I can ever be. I'm looking forward to seeing some of my favourites and anticipating what the new year's will make of all this."

"Just remember Andrew that even though they're first years we want to make sure they all survive their first week." Glynda said jokingly to which Andrew smiled back.

"It won't be long until they are expected to be in class. Shall we get a move along as well?" Ozpin gestured with his coffee mug in the direction of the main school buildings and Glynda and Andrew moved with him. He always like these morning walks as it put him in the right frame of mind for the day and it was usually the only time he would get to catch up with Ozpin.

"I trust that everything is in order now for the semester Andrew? I know you always leave your term planning till the last minute."

"Everything's sorted. It's going to be a very interesting year and I can't wait to start whipping some of the first years into shape."

"I gave you that class to train students, not for your own enjoyment in punishing them." Andrew laughed

"Don't worry sir I take my teaching duties very seriously." Glynda and Ozpin shared a quick look and the Glynda asked

"Were you being sarcastic there or are you honestly saying that you do ALL of your responsibilities with professionalism?" This comment got to him as he always took his teaching seriously as it was for the benefit of all his students but before he could respond Glynda added "Does that include paperwork?" Now he realised she was joking with him so half smiled and walked on.

"You got me there." Was all he said

"When you were a student, I remember that homework was not a strong point for you." Ozpin said as he began reminiscing. As Andrew began doing the same thing, they all saw a group of students running at full speed towards their classes. There were eight in total and Andrew only gave them the quickest of scans and while sighing was not surprised to see who they were. As quickly as they appeared, they were gone

"They excel at finding new ways to annoy me." Andrew said aloud

"They'll improve." Came a voice from Glynda.

"I still think this is some form of a joke from Ozpin at my expense. I keep expecting someone to turn around and say, "Did you really think we would let them into Beacon" followed by laughter."

"I'm sorry Andrew no such luck. They are here because they passed the entrance exam, you'll just have to get used to it." Ozpin turned to Glynda "We should be on our way. See you soon Andrew." Andrew nodded and the three went their own ways.

The day went by without any more unexpected incidents with Andrew spending most of the day with fourth year student classes, keeping their skills sharp and their minds sharper. When he was finished with his last class, he did what he always did at the end of the day and that was go for a calming walk. Soon he came across a familiar face in the form of Professor Port and since he hadn't seen him for a while thought a catch up was in order.

"Peter." He called out as he walked through the door to the balcony area where Peter was. Peter turned his head

"Ah, Andy. How are you? It's been a while since we last shared war stories."

"Just been thinking that myself." When he was standing next to Peter, he felt him land his hand on his cybernetic shoulder.

"The start of a new year and the new students to train to become fine huntsmen and even finer huntresses. This will be a great year!"

"Interesting maybe, great though? I'll wait till they've done something first." Peter laughed and Andrew couldn't help but smile. His laugh was almost infectious, that added with his eagerness for telling his war stories and ability to never see defeat made Andrew wish he could be more like him at times.

"You've got to loosen up more Andy. You're too young to be acting like a grumpy old man!"

"Well you could stand to be a little less upbeat because you are supposed to be a grumpy old man."

"Ha ah!" Peter shouted and smacked Andrew on his back. Being a cyborg with extensive metallic parts he found that some people treated him like a broken doll or glass figurine. They thought that if they hit him wrong, they would break him or cause him pain. This was a reason he liked Peter, he treated him like a person as he saw him as a fellow hunter who had seen much in the way of combat. He never tried to hide the fact he was a cyborg but wished people would just teat him normally.

"You seen any students that have caught your eye yet from the new batch?" Andrew asked

"There are some that I must say had a true huntsman spirit. There are also some fine huntresses as well, I mustn't forget them."

"Calm down Peter, you're old enough to be their dad, failing that their granddad."

"I'll have you know I'm not that old, I still have the stamina and strength of a man half my age."

"In which case, you're still too old for them." Peter ruffed his moustache then burst out laughing at the comment.

"Fair point but at least I have more in common with them and not the coffee machine in the cafeteria." Now it was Andrew's turn to laugh.

"I'm not complaining it's a fine coffee machine." The pair of them spent a few minutes laughing at the others expense, even though Andrew could have a laugh with Ozpin he found talking to Peter was far more entertaining.

"Ha ha, we should get a drink later this week. I'll see if Barty is in the mood as well. The three of us together well, Vale won't know what hit it!" Peter said as he put his arm around Andrew's neck.

"Sounds good to me Peter." Andrew then heard someone approaching and turned to face the newcomer to see Weiss Schnee coming towards them.

"Good evening professors." She said

"Ah, Miss Schnee what do we owe this fine pleasure?"

"I came to say that I enjoyed your lecture." With Weiss looking towards Peter, Andrew felt like a bit of a third wheel after that remark and didn't want to speak to her properly until she had been in one of his classes. He wanted to be objective on her skill so if he started talking to her before then he might become bias.

"Well of course you did my child you have the blood of a true huntress in you."

"You really think so?"

"Most surely"

"I'll take your word for it Professor Port but right now I must be on my way. Good evening to you both." Andrew interjected.

"Yes, good evening Professor Tinman, I'll get back to you on our meeting later." Andrew half smiled and then looked towards Weiss

"Miss Schnee." She looked up at him then curtsied

"Professor." She said and Andrew left them to it. He would speak to her soon enough but right now it wasn't proper to do so. He left them alone and could hear peter ask her if there was something wrong but was out of ear shot before she answered.

"If you're having problems already then you won't like it when you have your first class with me." He kept on walking down the corridor and then began wondering where her team was. It was the first day and he wasn't expecting them to be best friends right of the mark, seeing how they behaved in the forest showed that was certainly not the case. Still he expected them to try and be the picture of a true team even when they were not. Before he could think about it further, he saw Ozpin talking with Ruby Rose and took a deep breath as he approached.

"Think about what I've said Miss Rose." Ozpin said when Andrew was close enough to hear

"Yes professor." Ruby replied. Ozpin looked up to see Andrew approaching.

"Ah hello Professor Tinman, I trust you are well after today's classes?" Before Andrew answered he looked at Ruby who was facing with her back towards him. She didn't move or turn around and instead stayed perfectly still. _She must not like me_ Andrew thought, and right now he didn't care, to him she wasn't a student of his until she had been in one of his classes. Unfortunately, she still had to prove that she should be here in general and Andrew felt as though she knew it.

"It was interesting sir, as always." Ozpin gave him a raised eyebrow knowing he would say that.

"I think I should go now Professor, see you later." Ruby stuttered out and didn't wait for Ozpin to reply before she was on the move.

"Giving her advice sir?"

"Just letting her know that it's the first day of many and she'll grow into her role." Andrew scoffed

"Or she's not ready and this will prove to be too much for her." Ozpin changed his tone suddenly.

"Listen, I have tolerated your disapproval of her for the last several days now Andrew. Must I remind you that no one comes to this school already knowing what it takes to be a hunter, it's the reason this school exists in the first place. Should I also remind you of your first few months here at Beacon and how under prepared you were?" Now Andrew was silent, never had Ozpin lashed out at him in such a way. He realised that there was truth in Ozpin's words, was he just so hung up on that first meeting with Ruby that he was beginning to forget the basic reason for his position at this academy.

"Sorry sir, you're right I'm being stubborn. Surely though you can understand my position on this matter. I won't let her bring the name of this school down if she proves to be ill prepared or not mature enough for the role of huntress." Ozpin sighed and took a sip of his coffee.

"The image of this school or any other is not of my concern. All I care about is the peace and protection of this world which can only be achieved by the training of huntresses and hunters alike." He then put a reassuring hand on Andrews shoulder. "Remember who you are, a teacher who has dedicated his life to train the next generations of huntsmen. Please don't give up on any student, I never did." The smile Ozpin gave him made Andrew remember his time as a student, after a quick trip through his memories to his training days he backed down with a remorseful half smile.

"You're right, as always sir."

"No, just reminding you of your time as a student. I think we've talked enough for one day, why don't you go and rest as I know the coming weeks will be busy for you." Andrew nodded and the pair left each other with Andrew wondering what he was doing to Ruby.

"Am I being overly hostile for no reason? She is here now so maybe I should…" he then remembered what she said in that first meeting and it put him back on his previous train of thought.

"I don't know, maybe she is ready or maybe she isn't." He then had another thought

"I'll give her a test in her first class to see what kind of person she is. There will be no second chances and I'll get my answer." He then carried on walking but with a more purposeful step thinking about that next class.


	6. I know you're going to go far

Andrew opened the door into his classroom to see his next set of students were waiting for him. This was a class he was looking forward to and dreading in equal measures for this was a class of first years and amongst its numbers was Ruby Rose. Four different teams were in this class and by its nature it couldn't be done with many more than that.

The room was very large and open with hidden mechanisms that could be used to create several different scenario arrangements. The idea was that no class would be the same and create unique experiences.

The students saw him enter and quickly quieten down, lined up in their teams and stood straight as if at attention. Andrew made his half-smile and walked over to them but this time with a purpose. Once he was in front of them, he took in his class by skimming the line up and down twice which was swiftly followed by his speech.

"Good day students, as you all may know but I'll repeat it anyway, my name is Professor Tinman and I'll be taking you for Tactical Informative Mission Scenarios or TIMS for short. These classes will put you in real life situations that you will be expected to complete in the world once you graduate. In each class, you will be given a different scenario and told to complete it, if you do then you pass and move onto the next. If you fail well, you had best not fail." This had the desired effect on his class as all the students made quick glances at each other and then back to their teacher.

"This class has only been in circulation for a few years and only teachers of a particular persuasion can teach it." He paused but only for a second as he felt his mind try to turn on him again. _Not while I'm in class_ he thought and pressed on.

"You are all here because you want to be hunters and huntresses, a noble goal which I can sympathise with. But you are not here for the right reasons!" that last statement did cause several students to look perplexed believing they knew their reason was justified. Andrew continued

"You all believe that being a hunter is exciting, romantic and cool. I'm here to teach you otherwise" His words were directed to all the students but as he said them his eyes fell upon Ruby who wouldn't even look at his face. One other student also wouldn't look at him but for a completely different reason.

"Something wrong Mr Winchester?" Cardin did take note of the fact that Andrew was talking to him directly.

"This class is pointless" he said. "We all passed the entrance exam and I'm sure the other classes can prepare us for life as hunters." Andrew laughed in response.

"Not even willing to give it a try? You can't even begin to fathom what I can teach you."

"let's be honest professor if it was an important class then wouldn't they send a more complete hunter and not a failure like you?" Andrew really couldn't help but keep laughing at the boy, this class' true purpose was so far beyond him that he seriously doubted that Cardin would even catch on.

"Well I can't argue with the incomplete hunter part. How about a little wager then Mr Winchester, if you can land one hit on me then I'll give you and your entire team a free pass. You don't need to attend this class and use it as a free period. But if you fail then all of your mission scenarios will be considerably harder than the rest of your class mates. Deal?" Cardin looked at his team and then picked up his mace.

"You're on!" and stepped forward. _Stupid boy_ thought Andrew and took his position for a sparring match.

"No weapon Professor? You'll regret it!" Andrew laughed again but tried to control it.

"I think I can take whatever you can dish out." Before he had even finished speaking Cardin was in a full charge and swung down with his mace as strong as he could. The resulting explosion created a lot of smoke and the class tried to see through it so they could witness the result. Cardin was confident he won but then noticed that his mace was being held by Andrew's cybernetic hand and didn't have so much as a scratch on it. Then his cybernetic eye flashed red through the smoke followed but a strange sound then Andrew's other fist flew forward. It connected with Cardin's stomach and then sent him flying to the other end of the classroom. Stunned silence fell over the room and just as Andrew was about to return to his class Cardin shouted out

"I hit you! I got you first!" Andrew didn't like sore losers.

"Your attack didn't connect to its intended target, I blocked it after which I then retaliated and that is why you are over there on your knees. So no you didn't hit first and lost, now back into line."

"I didn't know I needed to hit you not your cybernetics, you cheated me!" Andrew looked at Cardin and was now in no mood for jokes.

"Fine then." He removed his jacket in one quick motion to show his shirt underneath which didn't have any material covering his cybernetic arm or shoulder. He then reached up to his shoulder with his other hand, pressed a series of buttons and with a loud clunk his arm detached and slammed to the ground.

"There is that more on even terms with you now Mr Winchester. You can try again if you want." Andrew was openly mocking him now, and it worked. Cardin grabbed his mace and charged in again, this time Andrew just moved around his attack. It was like water moving around rock, every attack Cardin made Andrew just wasn't there. After several attempts, Andrew finally grew bored and thought it would be best to end this before he embarrassed Cardin any further. Cardin swung, missed, and left himself wide open so Andrew kicked him in the back of his leg causing Cardin to fall to the floor. Then using his cybernetic leg, he kicked the mace out of Cardin's hand and across the floor then finally using his only arm got Cardin into a sleeper hold. Using his legs, he pinned Cardin into a position he could not move from and within seconds Cardin started to lose conciseness. Before he passed out completely, Andrew let him go and Cardin fell to the floor, the student started to cough violently so Andrew walked over to where he left his arm and picked it up. Before attaching though he asked Cardin

"You can try again if you want Mr Winchester and I could turn off my left part of my brain but when you lose to that, it will be very difficult to bounce back from a loss to a half brained, one armed failed hunter." Cardin, still coughing bowed his head and accepted defeat.

"Well done, you have just learnt your first lesson, how to show your teacher respect. Now back into line." His tone was so different, almost evil. Andrew then attached his arm back on as Cardin re-joined the line.

"Now that we have concluded with that spectacle we will continue with the actual class." His tone was now back to its normal one and the class seemed to relax a bit more after the excitement.

"Right, all I'm going to do today is pit you against sparing robots so I can properly gage your skill levels." A second later walls appeared around the room. "There will be one area per team so enter it and I'll seal you off from each other. Once done I will then unleash the robots, these are older models and I have hundreds of them so don't hold back in your destruction." The class started to make their ways to the designated areas and once they were there Andrew looked at his cybernetic arm and pressed a button which ordered the floor to rise under him and raze him to a higher vantage point. After it had reached its predetermined height and a series of barriers had shot up around him, Andrew half-smiled.

"O.K then ladies and gentlemen! Hope you're ready to have some fun!" he then hit a different button that sealed them all into the four arenas and then the sparing robots stared to drop from the rafters above them and up through the floors below them. Almost instantly the four teams started to blow the robots apart with some of them really seeming to enjoy it while they were fighting. Andrew then brought up a video feed screen on his scroll that showed different views from within the arenas and he looked through them each in turn.

"Come on kids you're supposed to be impressing me! I think it's time you stepped up your game!" with that he upped the number of robots in the arenas. Andrew then chuckled as the fighting got more serious but in one arena, a certain blond-haired girl looked even more happy. _Damn Yang save some for the rest of your team._

Fifteen minutes later Andrew had seen all he needed to see.

"O.K that's enough for now, I think you've embarrassed yourselves entirely for one day. Take five and I'll come down and give you all a personal evaluation." Andrew pressed the button to lower his platform and then the barriers around him. Once on the ground floor he opened a section of the wall so he could enter the arenas and the first team he came to was team JNPR.

"Ah, you're going to be first are you." He said as he looked the group over. Nora was standing on top of a mound of Robots, Pyrrha was adjusting her weapons, Ren was sitting in a peaceful state while Jaune just looked as though he was moping around the side of the arena.

"I hope we provided you with enough insight into our fighting prowess sir." Pyrrha said to him while standing to attention to meet him with a happy smile on her face. Andrew looked at her with a startled look on his own. "I'm sorry sir did I say something wrong?" she asked

"No not at all, I'm just not used to manners from teenagers. After seeing you all fight, I did have a feeling I would be met with a colder reception."

"Not at all sir, it was very enjoyable." Pyrrha answered with a genuine expression of happiness in her voice.

"Yeah! Can we have some more please!" Nora shouted from atop her robot scrap pile then preceded to slide down them.

"Not today Miss Valkyrie, I need to save some for when you start training for real."

"No fair" she said disappointingly. By this time, Ren had stood up

"For the time being I think we have achieved enough." He said

"Yes, take your team mates advice, anyway time for your evaluation." Andrew said while straightening up. "Now let's start with you Miss Nikos, I must say your reputation is well founded. Quite the impressive demonstration in your performance and your fighting stance shows you have more experience in this than most people." Pyrrha took the compliment in her stride.

"Thank you, sir." She answered. Andrew took another breath

"However, I do have one fault to point out." Now Pyrrha looked surprised but not disappointed like he thought she would be.

"Really? What might it be sir as if there is anything I can do to improve then I would be happy to oblige."

"Well it's when you throw your shield, your bodies movement leaves your back heel exposed for about 0.5 of a second longer then you really should. Now against most people it's nothing but to a trained opponent it will be all the time in the world to disable you. It's the only thing you really need to work at." Again, Pyrrha was surprised and after a moment even smiled.

"Thank you. Thank you for your input sir and I will train to improve upon what you have said." She then bowed to Andrew and he was still stunned at what she had said. Most students would feel down over the criticism, but she not only took it as a compliment she was happy for it too.

"Now Mr Ren you're next." Li Ren stood to attention "Your fighting style and movement are rather interesting. You look as though you are dancing more than fighting but if it gets the job done then that's all that matters. I don't think I've ever seen a student with as much agility as you, just remember that it can only take you so far. That's what your team is for a guess then, taking the brunt of the attack so you don't have to." Ren bowed his head and put the fist of one hand into the palm of the other. As Andrew moved to look at his next student to assess, Nora, he could see she was holding in barley contained excitement.

"Miss Valkyrie…... something wrong?" he questioned. She made a little giggle and said

"You're not scary at all!"

"Excuse me?" Andrew replied, taken back by the random comment.

"Ruby told us you were scary but you're really not! The more you try to be, the funnier you seem. You're really cute actually!" Andrew was completely astonished by her words and asked Ren

"She always been like this?" he nodded and said

"For as long as I've known her." Followed by another chuckle from Nora

"Anyway, to your evaluation. I know I said don't hold back when you started but I meant not against the robots. The arena itself however could have done with you holding back just a tiny bit." They all gave a look around and from the state of the walls and floor, several high explosives had been used against them to great effect. Nora then said

"You never said the walls were off limits" she still had that childish look on her face and didn't even apologise for destruction. Andrew sighed

"I suppose you have me there. Just remember that when you take jobs in the future you may want to tone it down; the citizens won't be too happy if you blow up their homes along with the Grimm." Nora just shrugged but did take on what he had said.

"Now finally your leader, Mr Arc." Jaune was still mulling about next to a dead robot. "MR ARC!" Andrew shouted to get his attention which worked as he screamed and lost his swords grip, flinging the blade right towards Andrew. The throw wasn't very powerful, so the sword only landed just in front of Andrew's right foot. All of team JNPR inhaled sharply as Andrew slowly looked down to the floor then just as slowly back to Jaune who appeared to be in the middle of a heart attack. Andrew didn't change his look or the tone in his voice.

"That's two records that you have broken today Mr Arc. The first being the lowest score any student has ever achieved in this exercise and the second being that you have been the closest anyone has come to actually wounding me in this class." Jaune ran up to Andrew and went to retrieve his sword.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!" he repeated as he went but before he reached his weapon, he felt a hand stop him from getting any closer.

"I think I'll get that." Andrew said as he grabbed the sword and handed it to Jaune, handle first. Jaune took it slowly and then put it away.

"I'm sorry sir, just got any from me there." Followed by a single laugh

"Mr Arc I recommend you have a serious think about what you are doing. I can understand first day nerves, but you will need to grow up very soon or we may have to consider you place here." Andrew raised his eyebrow and heard a rather loud gulp come from Jaune.

"Other than that, I'm somewhat satisfied with this initial display. Just work on what I have said, and I have confidence in your ability to last the first half term. With that done, congratulations on surviving." After that he walked to the next arena and left team JNPR trying to console Jaune.

After making his rounds, the last team he arrived at was team RWBY and after their first impressions together on the night before the first exam, he was expecting things to be very interesting. He could hear Yang before he had even entered their arena.

"Whatever, that was nothing and I know I got more than any of you. I can't wait till we start doing some real training." As she slammed her fists together.

"I don't think that's the aim of this class." Blake said

"Indeed, Miss Belladonna, the aim of this class is so I can see what you're made of." Andrew said when he was in sight of the girls as he reached where they were standing. The thing he noticed first was that all of them except Ruby looked ready for their evaluation but Ruby still couldn't look at him.

"I don't doubt you blew up the most Miss Xiao Long and from what I saw you have a lot of skill as well as knowing how to handle yourself in a fight. The problem is that not every mission will be that straight forward where a full-frontal assault will most certainly not be advisable."

"Yeah well if we need to be quiet then we'll just send Blake in, she's the quietest one out of all of us." Blake hit Yang in the arm.

"Well I can't deny that Miss Belladonna is far stealthier then the rest of you." Andrew said and turning his sight to Blake. "From what I could see of you I noted that you are far more experienced in combat than you let on. The way you fight reminds me of a more guerrilla style, striking fast and getting out before anyone can fight back. That makes you an effective huntress but what would make you even better is learning to trust your team mates." Blake rolled her head and Yang put her arm around Blake's neck to pull her in for a hug, from her face she wasn't expecting it and didn't necessarily want it.

"Is everything just a joke to you Yang?" Weiss asked and Yang smiled back

"Not everything but your skirt defiantly is"

"How dare you!" Before they two girls started another fight, Andrew stepped in.

"Ladies please calm down." He said while looking over the group. "Now I think you're next Miss Schnee." Weiss stood up straight as though she was at an important event or line up. _Probably from her upbringing_ he thought.

"I hope that I lived up to your expectations Professor Tinman" she said with a curtsy.

"Teachers pet!" Yang shouted making Weiss lose her posture but before she could retaliate Andrew spoke

"I didn't know you knew the level of my expectations." He said in a jokey manner and then carried on. "I see that you spent your time in Atlas learning something useful instead of dust exporting. The way you were fighting shows you are a woman of honour and dignity, traits that all hunters and huntresses should aspire to. The way you are most comfortable fighting is definitely one on one, but you will find that is your opponents will not always show you the same respect so I would recommend you focus of training up your group fighting skills." Weiss curtsied again and did look happy with the appraisal

"Thank you for your input Professor Tinman." Andrew nodded back and finally looked towards Ruby who had yet to say a word.

"Miss Rose" he called out, and she finally looked at him for the first time this class.

"Y-Yes sir?" she stuttered and then silence fell on the pair for several awkward moments.

"It'll do" was all he said but in a way that didn't fill Ruby with confidence.

"Hay, how come she didn't get a full appraisal or even a note of improvement?" Weiss demanded

"Probably because she doesn't need one, she did skip two years at Ozpin's request. Plus, being my sister helps." Yang added

"I hardly think that is the case." Weiss retorted

"Anyway, I think that's that for one day." With that Andrew press a button on his cybernetic arm to lower the arena walls so the room was completely open again. Addressing the whole class he said "On the whole I'm reasonably please with your performance so for today and I think we'll leave it at that. Now I can adjust your scenarios to focus on each team in their particular styles, class dismissed. Use this extra time to think about what I've said." He didn't need to say that twice as everyone started to head towards the door.

After they had all left the killing floor, Andrew activated another set of robots to clean up the debris.

"Thank goodness they don't feel emotions. I think they would try to kill me for allowing the students to destroy their comrades like that." Looking at how many were destroyed today, he wondered if he should put in another order to General Ironwood for more. He made a mental note and continued walking through the aftermath of the carnage.

"Had better get maintenance to have a look at the arena as well, might even need to get them to reinforce it after what Nora did. She's just a bit crazy." He said while having a quiet laugh to himself about it. As he turned around, he was greeted by the sight of Ruby hovering near the door. Since everyone else had gone he wondered why she didn't leave with the rest. After a deep sigh, he said

"Miss Rose, you can leave you know. I did say that. Didn't I?" After a pause to confirm he had he continued "Yes, I did so off you go." As he reassured himself of that fact that he did tell the others to leave, he sighed hoping age wasn't causing him any mental issues. However, Ruby didn't move and then clenched her fists as if she was readying herself for something. "Did you hear me?"

"Professor Tinman, why didn't you say anything to me? Is this about what I said when we first met? I may think that way, but I really want to be a huntress! I've always wanted to be a huntress! No matter what you do or say I'll never give up on that! I want to help people, protect them and if you think your speech, which I know you aimed at me by the way, was meant to make he feel wrong then you failed! I'll prove to you that I'm supposed to be here, I won't rest till I get your respect, but I don't care if I never get your approval!" Ruby never seemed to take a breath during her speech, but Andrew did notice the quiver in her voice near the end, she was still scared of him. Neither of them moved for several seconds until Andrew said.

"So, you notice that my speech was aimed at you then?"

"Erm… yes professor."

"Good, means you're not the lost cause I thought you were." Ruby remained frozen by the door. "Seeing as you have some free time on your hands why don't we have a one to one." And Andrew went and pulled two chairs from the side of the room and sat down in one of them. He looked back to see that Ruby hadn't really moved.

"Well are you coming or not?" he shouted to her, Ruby made a little yelp and then ran over to the other chair to which she then gestured towards it.

"Yes sit." Ruby then sat down but tried to stay on the far side of it like she was expecting to make a quick getaway. "I'm not going to bite, you know." Ruby's face showed that she wasn't going to trust him, so Andrew continued. "Ruby what do you see when you look at me? Honestly." She was hesitant to answer but eventually said

"A cyborg?" Andrew sighed

"Yes, I guess you do but what do YOU see?"

"A teacher? No wait is it a trick question?" Andrew put his head in his hand

"Yes to the first, no to the second." Ruby looked embarrassed and then shrugged

"I don't know. A…A scary hunter." Andrew smiled

"There we go, yes a hunter." Andrew took a quick breath before continuing "Miss Rose, becoming a huntress is not something that can be done overnight, even after you graduate you are constantly learning new things and improving yourself. But there is one lesson you need to learn at the very beginning before you can even begin your journey and that is was does it mean to be a hunter or huntress." Ruby looked on at Andrew but not as worried as before.

"Well I thought that it was serving the people, you know protecting them." She replied

"Exactly. Now believe this or not but many if not all your fellow students have yet to fully understand this and to be perfectly honest so do you. It is the lesson that my class aims to teach so that when you all graduate you go out into the world ready to protect it from all that would seek to destroy it."

"I thought everybody who comes here would already know that?" Andrew shook his head and made a small laugh.

"No they really don't, each person comes here with their own reason for becoming a hunter and forget they have unwittingly agreed to the obligation of the hunters. To protect this world, no matter the cost." Andrew leaned forward in his seat "I'm the first to admit that protecting the people was not high in my list of priorities for attending Beacon."

"Then, why did you?" she asked. He looked up a Ruby before answering

"That's not easy to explain to a young girl." She looked really puzzled but to her credit didn't ask any more questions to that affect.

"So it's because you think I don't understand what's at stake, that's why you hate me." Andrew took a deep breath

"Ahhh, Ruby. The night we first met I thought you were a young hothead who wanted to be a huntress for the wrong reasons, thinking it was a fun hobby or something like that. So I didn't want you to attend Beacon, well not till you had at least grown up a bit and watching you in the emerald forest only served to confirm my believe in that." Ruby looked down at the floor and Andrew thought he saw some small amount of shame over that.

"But instead of continuing to act like a child you started to act more like a huntress. Not a very mature huntress but it was at least a step in the right direction." She then looked back up to him but her face hadn't changed much. Andrew continued "You stepped up and after today with my speech I'm glad to see that Ozpin may…not have been wrong moving you ahead two years but I'm still not convinced with that yet. Also, I can definitely say that don't hate you." Ruby did start to smile at that last point to which Andrew half smiled back. "The main problem I had with you was I saw lot of my younger self in you."

"I take it that this is a bad thing then?" she said. Andrew tilted his head slightly

"Oh yes. One me is bad enough, this world doesn't need another one. But you really have taken on board what a huntress should be and do, all you lack is the final part of the obligation. "at any cost". This means that you must be willing to give everything you have to this cause and that includes your life. You are still too young to truly understand this; your life has barely begun for you to think about it ending." Ruby looked down again but for only a second. When she looked back up she had a determined smile on her face.

"I promise professor that I will never forget the hunter's oath. I will dedicate my life to this and if that means I die then I'll die protecting this world." Andrew was completely startled by this, she wasn't just telling him what he wanted to hear, she truly believed this and because of that he was finally willing to except her as a student. _She's still immature_ he thought but Ruby wasn't finished speaking yet. "So…will you give me an evaluation now sir. I'd like to know how I fared and if there's anything I can do to improve." She looked somewhat embarrassed as she said this, but Andrew just half smiled

"Well since you asked so nicely. To tell you the truth you are one of the best huntresses for your age I've ever seen. Most of your upper-class men from the fourth year would struggle to compete with you. Your uncle Qrow has taught you very well, you're strong and skilled in equal measures. The only flaw I could see is something that is still new to you and that is your leadership skill, you must take the reins of your team and be a capable leader to them. This is a skill that you will unfortunately need to develop at some speed because your team really needs it, Miss Xiao long in particular."

"Yeah…... it's going to be really hard trying to keep her under control in a fight."

"A good leader uses their team's weaknesses to their advantage. If you have a loose cannon then let her be unpredictable, I can guarantee if you can't figure her out then the enemy will have no chance. Just have a way to reel her back in like pairing her up with someone or giving her something to focus on in battle." Ruby laughed, for the first time she laughed in his presence.

"Thanks professor, I'll keep that in mind." Andrew smiled back at her

"Okay then I think that's all we need to discuss for the time being. Take on board what I have said, and you'll be well on your way to starting to gain my respect." She laughed again

"Yes sir!" she said as she stood up and then saluted him. Andrew rolled his head and made a "tsk" noise. When he looked back, he saw her still smiling. "I mean it sir, thank you." Andrew wondered if he had done something else while they were here.

"Erm…. You're welcome, now shouldn't you catch up with you team. Bet they are wondering where you've got to."

"Oh right yes! Better get moving!" she used her semblance to disappear across the room but stopping just short of the door. "Sorry did you want me to put that chair back?" she called out as Andrew looked at it then back to her.

"I think I can handle that Miss Rose. Go on get out of here." She opened the door and was about to step out but then called back

"See you next class professor! Can't wait!" and with that she was gone. Andrew just sat there for a minute thinking about what was said. She was not the student he had pegged her to be and thought he might had been a bit hard on her.

"Nah, this tough love is what my class is about. You either sink or swim and the way how she's going to be, I bet she'll walk on water."


	7. You can Take my Hand

"Sometimes I really wonder why I'm here" said Andrew

"You are here because you are a great professor" Andrew and Ozpin were walking through the campus courtyard and today was a day that Andrew had no classes and should have been doing some much needed paperwork. He hated paperwork though so he was trying to waste time by catching up with Ozpin.

"I mean why I'm here in general. This world doesn't need me so why should I bother?"

"If you are looking for answers on the meaning of existence then I'm afraid that's a bit beyond my skill. Why can't you be happy with the fact that you are here, there are people out there who are just as worse off as you but can find meaning in their life."

"My life has a single purpose and that I'm fine with. All I want is for that purpose to be achieved then I'm free. Free to leave." Ozpin sighed and looked down at his feet while walking.

"I didn't give you that purpose as an escape clause, I gave it to you so that you could find meaning again."

"Thanks for that but I still have problems with the last part."

"You are the only person I know who takes a purpose as a bad thing." They were just about to pass the cafeteria and Ozpin took this as a good point to leave. "Don't you have work to do in your office?" Andrew paused in mid step and took a deep breath.

"Yes…. I'll get started on that. Right after lunch." Andrew's half smile appeared, and he walked into the cafeteria as he waved to Ozpin who sighed while he walked off to his own office.

The hall was filled with students that were all eating their lunch with their friends, the noise was so loud that it was almost unbearable to him. Quiet environments were where he felt most at peace and above all in his right mind. Noise always distracted him to a point that he would forget what he should be doing because he couldn't focus his mind, noise was always associated with things best left alone.

He thought about just heading back to his office now but the large rumble from his stomach made him reconsider and get some lunch to appease it. This started a walk across the room to the serving hatch where he was about to order something when he heard a voice scream out

"Ow that hurts!" he was already turning around before he knew it. He gave a quick look around the room and his cybernetic eye found the source of the cry, it was Velvet Scarlatina struggling with Cardin Winchester. Anger filled Andrew's face as he witnessed the scene before him, Cardin had grabbed one of her ears and started to pull her around by it while he joked with his team mates. Andrew started to march towards the group, quickly and forcefully and when he was within range he could hear what was being said

"I told you they were real!" Cardin joked

"What a freak" answered another of his team. A wicked half smile appeared across Andrew's face and before he realised what he was doing, he had grabbed the top of Cardin's head with his cybernetic hand and lifted him out of his chair.

"HAY! What the!" Cardin shouted followed by a gasp from his team mates.

"Hmm. That's funny, I always thought that your head was ornamental. Something you balanced on your shoulders. My mistake. Now let go of Miss Scarlatina and I'll let go of you." After a hesitant second Cardin did what he was asked but didn't do it gently, Andrew then looked towards Velvet. "Are you alright Miss Scarlatina?" She was timid but replied

"Yes sir."

"Wait there one moment." He turned his attention to Cardin and let go of his head. Cardin started rubbing the top of his head and looked around to face Andrew. "What made you think that this was acceptable behaviour. You are a hunter in training just like Miss Scarlatina so is this the way you treat all your fellow hunters?!"

"What's the big deal, she's only a Faunus." Andrew frowned at that remark.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that last part. Just remember you are here because you were accepted into the academy to be a hunter just like everyone else so why don't you start acting like one. That goes for all of you." The last bit was aimed at the whole team who did take noticed. Then he leaned back into him to say something only between the two

"If I ever catch you doing anything like this to another student then I'll make sure you won't be physically able to so again. Clear?" Once again there was a pause then Cardin scoffed,

"Sure, it won't happen again."

"I'll be watching you very carefully just to make sure Mr Winchester." He then pulled away and put a happier face on for Velvet. "Miss Scarlatina, shall we leave." She nodded and Andrew walked her away from the group and could feel the hate coming from the boys. As they walked away Andrew asked,

"Let me take that tray for you." Velvet nodded and gave him the tray

"Thank you."

"No problem."

"No with them, thank you." Andrew then sighed

"I wish that I wasn't needed." He took a pause and looked down at her "Has he done that to you before, be honest with me." She looked up

"No, he hasn't."

"But I sense this isn't your first incident with less than respectable humans." She was silent and he could tell from her face that it wasn't. "You know that if you have any problems like this that me and the other teachers are here to help you."

"I know sir, I just didn't want to bother people with my problems." Andrew stopped her with his free hand by placing it on her shoulder.

"Velvet, you know that my door is always open for you. It doesn't matter how big or small the problem is."

"Are you only doing this because I'm a Faunus?" Andrew gave her a look of shock

"No, I'm doing this because you are being bullied by an intolerant jerk. Seriously we can make it an official matter."

"Please don't. I don't want to be the student who kicks someone out of the school because they can't cope." Andrew felt sorry for her, she was the type of person who didn't want to cause issues. Keep things quiet so that no one else had to deal with her problems.

"I want you to know that regardless of whether you're a human or a Faunus, male or female or even if you were no longer a student here. I would always be there to help you or any other."

"Thank you, sir." She said

"You're also one of the best students I've had the pleasure to teach and I don't want to lose you to something, or someone as pathetic as that." The smile she gave back made Andrew hoped that one day there might be a chance for peace between the two races. He put her tray in the washing up pile and then gestured for her to carry on so, still smiling, she went on her way.

"I'll see you next class Professor." She called as she left while Andrew returned a solitary wave. He felt happy at the fact that she never blamed humans for what she went through, just one particular human. Looking back, he noticed that Cardin and his team had also gone from the cafeteria which caused him to grimace, he hoped that he could catch them and give them a more severe talking to. As he glanced back he did see something else, two teams of students giving him a mix of silly smiles. Team RWBY and team JNPR minus Jaune Arc, his response to them was a raised eyebrow and a quick turn.

He found himself doing a half smile in secret as he walked out of the building as he had completely forgotten to get something to eat while he was in there. Leaving the room, the way he did make him think he couldn't just re-enter it and act normally. After a sigh, he decided that it would be better to go back to his flat and make himself a quick meal and get on with his paperwork.

"All that to get away from my work only for me to get back work quicker. I'm really pathetic sometimes." And off he marched but glad he was around to make sure Cardin thought twice about voicing his personal opinions on Faunus students.


	8. Time to Change

Today in Andrew's class it was a situation that had been developed from a personal mission that he had undertaken in his huntsmen days. It revolved around rescuing civilians from a village that was about to be overrun by Grimm. The objective was for the team to hold off the enemy to allow them time to escape in transport ships and if one Grimm got by them then the exercise would fail. Currently team RWBY were in the scenario and were doing fairly well, even though they were only against fake Grimm.

Yang was being her usual self and was right in the middle of the action but in this case, it worked as this was making her the Grimm's main target rather than the people she needed to protect. Weiss had used her glyph's to create an ice wall behind the team making yet another obstacle for the Grimm to get through and then proceeded to help Yang at the front. Blake was sticking to outsides of the pack making sure that none of the Grimm would start to get away from the main group while Ruby was in a position on the ice wall using her sniper rifle to great effect from the high vantage point. There was also another reason for her location, it provided an excellent place to survey the battlefield and issue new orders should the need arise.

Andrew was happy with this approach as it proved that she had taken on board what he had told her before, improving her leadership skills and maintaining control over her team. After a quick glance at the timer for the mission Andrew could see they only had 30 seconds left but a lot could go wrong in 30 seconds so would reserve judgement for when the mission was completed.

"Blake watch the left! Some of them are trying to break away!" Ruby shouted out to the room.

"On it!" Blake shouted back and swung out of the battle to cut off the offending Grimm. Yang was doing so well she was beginning to force the Grimm back making the mission turn into an extermination rather than an evacuation.

Suddenly an alarm blared which signalled the end of the exercise causing all the fake Grimm to shut down on the spot. The girls all paused for a moment while the realisation of the mission's end sunk in and then almost all collapsed at once where they were standing.

"Not bad, not bad at all team RWBY. As a team, you kept the civilians safe and kept control over the whole situation." They all looked pretty pleased with their appraisal "It's a good thing this is still an exercise though because the fact you're all worn out means that your escape plan would have been interesting. Remember in a real-life scenario you would need to consider all aspects of it, including how you're going to get out." This did make Yang sigh

"Come on teach, can't you just say well done and leave it at that." She shouted to him

"No because if I did then you will never learn, and I wouldn't be doing my job properly." The girls started to pick themselves up and leave the arena. As they did the whole room was reset to its starting conditions.

"O.K then, that's three teams down and one to go. Team JNPR, you're the last ones in so I hope the extra time was enough to give you some ideas on how you're going to tackle this." As he looked at the team, he noticed that they were really not with things but especially Jaune who looked as though he was standing just a bit too far from his team.

"Come on guys, let's get down there." He told his team in a way that didn't give Andrew much confidence. The rest of the team started moving and as they did it was Pyrrha that caught his eye for she didn't even say anything and was giving Jaune a very cold shoulder.

"I hope that's my imagination." Andrew said to himself and began resetting the parameters and times for the mission. When the team was on the field, Andrew began

"O.K you know the drill, there is a village behind you that is being evaluated to the sea. There are a lot of people and you will need to give them time to all evacuated. The Grimm will be on you very shortly as all the panic will draw them to this area. Hold them off and protect the village until everyone has been evacuated, that is your only objective today." There was no response from Jaune or Pyrrha which was unusual, it was then that Ren shouted up to him

"Understood" Andrew wasn't sure if they had all understood but began the countdown anyway. A timer appeared before the team counting down from 10 and when it reached 1 the arena siren sounded, and the exercise began.

"So, what do we do?" Pyrrha asked Jaune, her tone showed no respect for him like she only asked to maintain the illusion to her partner of teamwork. Jaune looked at her then to the rest of his team.

"Well…. we need to…do something." He got out

"No der Jaune, like what?" Nora said

"Let me think! Just let me think about this!" Jaune said and started to rub his head. Then the mechanical Grimm arrived on the arena floor and started to move slowly towards the team.

"They're here!" Ren called out

"What do we do?" Pyrrha asked again, more forceful this time. Jaune didn't say anything and instead just stood there, still wondering what to do.

"That's it!" Nora spat out and ran into the Grimm at full speed.

"Wait!" shouted Ren as he ran after her. Before Jaune and Pyrrha could stop them, they were in the middle of the Grimm who took advantage of the situation and many of the group ran around them already splitting up the battle.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha shouted waiting for a reply as the Grimm came closer

"Attack!" he shouted and ran passed her into the now doomed scenario as Pyrrha shook her head and followed behind him. As they clashed a Grimm smacked Jaune flying right back into Pyrrha knocking both of them across the room and causing Nora and Ren to stop their attack and look back at their flying comrades.

"What's going on?!" Nora shouted only for her to be dog piled by several Grimm at once.

"Nora!" Ren shouted and ran to get her out from under the Grimm robots not paying any attention to the fact that many of them were just about to reach the evacuation zone now there was nothing to stop them.

Andrew looked at the timer and they were barely into its three-minute mark and so when the alarm went off signalling their failure, he was not amused.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?" Andrew screamed out to the team. The four of them were picking themselves up as well as their weapons. He jumped over the barrier and fell some fifteen feet, landing on his cybernetic leg which took the brunt force of the impact. It did however make a sizeable indent into the floor but this was of no concern to him as his sole focus was on team JNPR as he marched over to them.

Out of the four, Pyrrha was the only one who was expecting the onslaught as she picked up her fallen shield. Her face was filled with disappointment, but Andrew could tell it wasn't because of him as her face was more focused on Jaune.

"That was appalling, pure and simple. Anyone have anything to say for themselves?" Unsurprisingly none of the group were inclined to reply. "Nothing? So I'm to assume that all of you have just lost your combat skills and talents?"

"I'm sorry Professor, we seem to be having communication issues." Pyrrha said as she stood to attention.

"That's not the only issue you've got. None of you were acting as a team, none of you coordinated properly and none of you had your eyes on the bigger picture." Andrew then began to shout

"Because of your failure, you condemned not only yourself to death but everyone you were supposed to be protecting! If this was a real mission, then we'd only have known you'd failed when we came along to scrape up your corpses!" Each member of the team couldn't look him in the eye to which Andrew couldn't help but feel disgusted. He glared at Jaune now

"Where were you in all that Mr Arc? As team leader, the fault falls squarely on you! Why were you not taking control of the situation!?" Jaune looked up and then instantly looked back down

"I…. I couldn't keep up."

"THAT'S NO EXCUSE!" Andrew bellowed at him, being only a couple of feet away from Jaune it nearly made him jump out of his skin. "You've been here for weeks now, excuses like that will not fly with me! Your ineptitude cost your team the mission and their lives!" Andrew gave a look down the line of students and could see that none were coming to his aid.

"Looks like there may be an underlying issue that all of you need to resolve. I would suggest you get it sorted before next class because all of you will need to redo this mission and until you pass it you will not proceed any further. Now get out of my sight." Once again, the team didn't answer or look at him and shuffled away but before they passed by Andrew, he held his hand out to stop Jaune. "Not you" his words were as cold as ice and caused Jaune to turn pale. Andrew then turned around and look up to all the other teams.

"As for the rest of you, all I can say is well done. That was a successful mission complete, so you're dismissed. Don't think it's going to be that easy anymore however, now the real missions start." With that the class left the room all except Andrew and Jaune. The two of them stood facing each other but it was clear that Jaune wasn't going to say anything, so Andrew spoke first.

"Your team doesn't seem to be on speaking terms with you Mr Arc. Care to explain?" Jaune took a few seconds to reply and eventually said

"I don't know, maybe they don't think I'm a very good leader."

"After that performance, I would agree with them. However, I seem to remember not long ago that all of you were quite pally, so something happened to change that." Once again Jaune took a long while to answer

"I can't tell you. Sir"

"Can't or won't? In any case, unless you tell me then I can't help you. Despite that telling off I gave you all I don't want to see you fail. Your team mates are very skilled and capable but if they are led poorly then they will all be diminished." Jaune looked up at him

"Well I never asked to be their leader!" he snapped back at Andrew and instantly regretted it

"No, you didn't. Professor Ozpin did which means he believes you to be good leader material." Andrew sighed as he continued "Look I'm willing to give you another chance Mr Arc but if you disappoint me again then I will remove you as team leader and possibly from Beacon entirely. I wasn't convinced watching you in the forest that you were ready for this or to become a hunter in the first place." Jaune sighed and slouched as this did hit him hard.

"I've been thinking the same thing sir." He said. Andrew scoffed

"I'll say it one more time, if there is a problem then tell me and I might be able to do something about it." Jaune looked up again and it did seem he was about to say something but then gave a heavy sigh and went right back to how he was.

"Very well Mr Arc, in that case I think you should really consider what you are doing here and if it's in your team's best interests or your own."

"Yes, professor Tinman." Jaune took this as a sign to move but was stopped before he got too far

"I'll give you till next lesson to make up your mind, luckily because of the field trip next week you now have nearly three weeks till then. I want an answer and you better put all things into consideration before then." Andrew gave him a stern look and it did take Jaune a few seconds to look up. He nodded with a remorseful look on his face

"I will sir." Not one more word was spoken between them as Jaune walked across the room towards the exit however Andrew never stopped watching him the whole time. He shook his head as the student left the class room

"Do the right thing." He said and with that he started up the maintenance bots to clean the room in preparation for the next class.

A week went by too quick for Andrew to noticed and it was the morning of the field trip. He was buttering some toast when his scroll went off on his desk, he sighed and took a bite out of his breakfast and started to wish he kept his scroll in his pocket rather than hidden somewhere on his desk. He rushed over and took a couple of seconds to find it underneath his paperwork and answered it before it rang off.

"Hello" he muttered through his full mouth to see Glynda on the other side.

"Morning Andrew, did I catch you at a bad time?" Andrew swallowed and replied

"No, just having breakfast. Did you need something?"

"I was just checking that you were all right to participate in today's field trip."

"Thanks for the concern but I'm fine today. I'll be there."

"Glad to hear it, I really needed someone to carry the heavy boxes and I know I couldn't get anyone else to help at this short noticed."

"Well I'm happy my condition hasn't messed up your plans." Glynda smiled

"I was only joking Andrew." Andrew smiled,

"Of course you were, now let me finish my breakfast and I'll see you in about an hour." After that they both hung up together.

"I'm so happy I didn't have an episode today. Glynda would have killed what's left of me." As he went back to his toast.

When he met up with Glynda an hour and a half later she was going over the transport checks. Andrew knew he was later than he said he would be, and he also couldn't deny that missing the transport checks was the reason for this. Before he could speak Glynda shouted

"You're late." In a very disapproving voice

"Sorry, my toast was so nice I had to have some more."

"Funny. I saved the best till last. You get to check the engine levels" She looked at his worn green jacket. "I'd take that off if I was you, don't want to get oil on it." Andrew looked down at his clothes and scoffed as he took off his jacket and walked to the engine compartment of the transport ship.

"And you wonder why I was late." Glynda laughed

"I knew you'd be late which is why I left this till last." The groan that left Andrew's throat said it all so he got on with his appointed task.

After he was done, he grabbed a cloth form his pocket and began to ring his hands which made Glynda take note

"I never thought your cybernetic hand was that nimble let alone that you would clean it like a normal hand."

"Well I did have a normal hand for a few years, it's a habit that I can't seem to get rid of. You'd be surprised what is ingrained into your nature even after its gone." They both shared a quick laugh and then got back to preparing for the trip.

When the students started to arrive, they were nearly done with all the pre-flight checks. Andrew looked at the approaching students to see that the first team was of course team RWBY. He saw them walk up to the landing pad and then saw Ruby waving at him frantically.

"Good morning Professor Tinman!" she shouted to him and he let his head fall then come right back up with a weak half smile followed by a wave back with his left hand. He then noted how much she had changed around him since her first class with him and was now surprised to see her treat him like a normal person. When the team was closer, he then decided to speak.

"Morning ladies, I trust you are all well and are properly prepared for this trip" Yang did a fist bump

"Yeah! Been looking forward to this all week. Time away from school and the possibility of fighting Grimm, it's going to be fun!" Andrew chuckled

"I like your enthusiasm Miss Xiao long just don't let it become over confidence."

"Nah no need to worry teach, after your classes I'm feeling pumped for this!"

"You really should listen to him Yang, he has a valid concern." Said Weiss

"Kill joy" Yang replied

"Are you still coming with us professor?" asked Blake, he looked at her.

"Someone has to keep you students from having too much fun." This elicited a small laugh from the girls. "Go on, get your gear packed away. As soon as the other teams are here then we'll be off." They all did what he said and moved on however Ruby stopped and slowly turned around

"Professor?" she asked so Andrew turned to meet her.

"Yes, Miss Rose."

"Are you still mad at team JNPR? They were kinda broken up about it after your last class." He sighed and decided to be honest with her

"Mad, not really anymore. Disappointed, oh yeah." Ruby looked sad over that but before she could say anything else he said "They've still got a chance to turn things around. I don't want to fail them, but I am a professor of Beacon and I cannot pass students that will be a danger to themselves or others. I hope though that Mr Arc figures out what he needs to do thus saving his team from this fate."

"Yeah, I had a chat with him last night about that. I think he just needs some tough love."

"So do I. Now go and pack your things and get ready for lift off." Ruby nodded and went off onto the transport. Another few minutes passed, and the other two teams arrived, team CRDL and team JNPR who did what team RWBY did and pack their things into the transport. Once they were all sorted and ready, Glynda appeared behind Andrew and said

"Everything all checks out and now all the students are present so shall we get going?"

"If you say so, shall I drive?" She raised her eyebrow and walked right passed him, so he took that as a no and walked onto the transport.

It took off and transported them to the forest of Forever Fall, a place that Andrew loved and hated in equal measures. A beautiful place but filled with danger, he'd been there before when he had a mission to locate a research team that gone missing. He was there for four days and eventually found the remains of the team however he did make sure that the Grimm that killed them never did it again.

The landing was text book, and everyone was off loaded along with all the equipment that they needed. Andrew investigated the forest and couldn't help but feel uneasy just like the last time, unlike the last time though now he had far more people to look out for. Luckily Glynda was also there to help watch out for the students, they then both escorted them into the forest.

As they walked Glynda gave the students a brief chat and then told them when and where they would meet up after collecting their red sap samples. When she was done, Glynda turned to look at Andrew

"Let's go." They then both walked off away from the students.

"Nice place, quiet surroundings and beautiful company. Is this the real reason you wanted me to come here? Are we on a date?" he asked with a half-smile that was a little sly

"If I want to be on a date, do you think I would come here?"

"I don't know what you like to do on dates. I noticed that you didn't deny that we were on a date." The sly half smile remained which received a harsh glare back.

"No, we are not." And she walked away from him. Andrew scoffed while still smiling and walked off in a different direction. They were going to patrol the area around where the students were collecting the red sap and to make sure they could maximise coverage they would circle and be opposite sides of the pattern. The cybernetic eye he had made it very easy to spot anything suspicious and Glynda seemed to have a sixth sense for these things

Some time passed and Andrew was so focused on keeping his eye out for trouble he hadn't checked what time it was. His eye had picked up a few things but none of them were Grimm or dangerous, so he left them to it. His leg was beginning to ache because of how long he was standing and putting his weight on the cybernetic leg caused it to dig into what was left of his body. As he was stretching his real leg, he suddenly heard voices coming from behind him.

"Professor Tinman!" there were two voices, one male and one female. He span around to see where they were coming from. It was lie Ren and Nora in a full sprint towards him.

"Hay! Slow down! What's the emergency?" he called back while holding up his hands

"There's a Grimm attack! A big one and it's got Cardin Winchester and Jaune!" screamed Ren. Andrew didn't even hesitate and started to run towards them.

"Take me there now!" Nora skidded to a stop and then took off back the way she came followed by Andrew who was only a step behind her. He was starting to panic as he was not exactly optimistic over their chances, Cardin was arrogant and Jaune wasn't skilled enough for this situation.

"What is it?! How many!?" Andrew shouted out to Nora

"Just one Ursa and its big!"

 _Just great_ he thought to himself. All he could do was think about what mess he would find the pair of them in, if he could find them at all.

"Listen! When we get there, you both stay back and let me deal with this!"

"No Chance! He's our team mate!"

"That wasn't a request! You get involved, I will put you down before I handle the Grimm!"

In minutes, they could hear fighting and Andrew started to speed up knowing that if he didn't get there soon then he would be scraping up the students off the floor. They reached the clearing where it was taking place to see Jaune running into fight the Ursa. Andrew was ready to charge in until he saw Jaune block the Ursa's attack with his shield and then slice off the head with one swing. He stopped moving and was in complete shock over what he just witnessed.

"Well…. that was unexpected." He looked back to Ren and Nora "Go find Professor Goodwitch, let her know what's happened." They looked confused until Andrew pointed behind them and they left to find her. When he looked back, he saw Jaune help Cardin to his feet and heard him tell Cardin not to mess with his team. This made Andrew half smile.

"I think he finally gets it." He then marched over to the pair and took notice at the now fading corpse of the Ursa. "Mr Arc, Mr Winchester." They both snapped round to see him. Andrew looked towards Cardin first, looking at his armour covered in sap

"I see that you are covered in red sap. As you've just seen first-hand it can attract certain Grimm, but you should already know that because I know for a fact you have done an essay on Grimm studies for Professor Port only last week." He continued walking towards Cardin who was still shaken up by this situation and couldn't even form a response.

"Go and get that washed off now. I don't want any of its friends coming around to try for seconds." Cardin nodded and was about to walk off "That's two times now Mr Winchester I've had to caution you about your student activities. One more incident and I'll throw you out of Beacon myself. Are we clear?" He said it calmly, but it was a very clear threat.

"Yes sir." Cardin answered and carried on walking. Andrew wasn't sure that Cardin had put as much feeling as he should have done into his response. However, Andrew had made his point clear so simply turned to face Jaune.

"That really was a big Ursa, by the looks of it I would say that it was and Ursa Alpha." He then walked back over to the almost gone corpse, he was about to speak but for once he was interrupted.

"Professor Tinman, you were right. I'm no leader so I want to make things better for my team. I should have done this a long time ago, but I thought I could be something I'm not. Professor my transcript papers are…" Before he could finish Andrew interrupted him

"Are fine Mr Arc." He turned around to face Jaune

"No they're not. They…" Once again, he was cut off

"Show that you have the skill necessary to dispatch Grimm and from what I saw just now I'd say that was true."

"You're not letting me finish!" Jaune shouted back

"Your right! I don't want you to say something that you'll regret!" Andrew replied in kind which made them pause. After a few seconds, Andrew spoke again "Honestly Mr Arc, from what I've read in your transcript papers and what I've witnessed today I can say everything is fine." Jaune looked annoyed so before he could speak Andrew moved over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You have nothing to worry about. If I say you are fine, then you are fine."

"But what if I'm not. What if people say otherwise?" Andrew laughed and then remembered he was in a serious situation.

"Well if they do then they'll have to come through me, and I'll say the same thing I just told you." Jaune still looked worried "If Professor Goodwitch hears anything she will come to me and Professor Ozpin is the one who put you here and he really likes you, so he won't say anything. So stop worrying, from now on things are going to be fine." Jaune sighed

"What about my team?"

"They're a good team and they have a leader who now appears to be coming into his own. Stick with it for a bit longer and you may surprise yourself." He didn't seem convinced, so Andrew said "Okay, here's some advice for you then if you're worry about this. If you think people will question your abilities, then find someone to train with and don't give the doubters any reason to think you're not skilled enough."

"Does that mean you'll train me!" Jaune jumped to the wrong conclusion and sounded excited like he thought he could become another Tinman, the very thought of which made Andrew go very pale.

"Sorry but no. If I'm your personal trainer then I seriously think you will die, you need someone more your speed and understanding. Is there no one like that who could help you?" Jaune smiled and tilted his head before he replied

"Actually, I think there is." Andrew half smiled and nodded his head believing he knew who Jaune would ask.

"I do have a question for you though." Jaune looked at him to continue "How do you feel about redoing the mission now?"

"I don't know, maybe better. I'll need to talk to my team."

"Then that's a step in the right direction. Speak with your team and work out your problems then give me a call. If you think you can do it then come and see me first thing Monday morning and we'll run the class again. When you pass, then we'll pretend the last class never happened and your team doesn't fall behind the others. Sound like a plan?"

"Sounds good to me professor. Wait…... did you say, "when we pass", are you really that sure?"

"As I said, your team is good and could be great, so I think you'll all be ready next time around. Don't you?" Jaune took in a deep breath and stood as straight as he could.

"We won't let you down again sir!" Andrew shook his head but still half smiled.

"Now why don't you go and find your team and tell them all about your Ursa slaying skills? I'm sure that'll impress them." Andrew turned around to leave when he saw Glynda, Blake, and Yang burst through the trees.

"What happened?! I was told there was an Ursa attack here?!"

"All sorted Professor, Mr Arc took down the Grimm and saved Mr Winchester. I saw it all happen with my own eye."

"Wow! Nice going Jaune." Yang called out with a thumbs up.

"Thanks. Now if you'll excuse me. I have to find my team mates." Jaune looked and sounded almost completely different with his new-found confidence. Glynda then walked up to Andrew and spoke quieter to him.

"Did he really kill it?"

"Sure did, looks like his transcript papers are true after all." With that he just walked off back to where he was previously patrolling just in case there were any more Grimm lurking around.

 _See you Monday Mr Arc_ he thought to himself.


	9. Behind the cyborgs façade

Driving down to the docks in one of the school's mini buses, Andrew was in the middle of a small rage building up inside him. He had received a call almost twenty minutes ago, from the Vale police department about a group of students being involved in a criminal incident and needed to be collected. They had been questioned by the police so just wanted to be taken back to the school where Andrew planned to interrogate them himself but fortunately for the students Ozpin had requested that he didn't do that.

He pulled up to the docks and parked the bus near the entrance and got out of it, slamming the door behind him. He marched over to two police men and almost shouted at them

"Professor Tinman from Beacon. I believe you have some of my students, where are they?!" The two turned to look at him and when they saw his face went quite pale. Andrew knew that his features were not widely accepted by the general population but didn't care about that, he just wanted an answer.

"They're erm… over there. Sir." One of them said while pointing to an area of the docks. Andrew looked over to where the man had pointed and saw a group of very familiar girls standing around some shipping crates.

"Thank-you." He said, already moving passed them at some speed. When he got closer to them, he noted that there was another student there as well, a male Faunus with blond hair and a monkey's tail. _Funny, don't remember any students like that at Beacon_ he thought but this soon passed from his mind when he was within grabbing distance of the girls.

"I'm still not quite sure how a feel about you!" Weiss said and pointed a finger at the young man who laughed nervously.

"Wait where's…" Ruby didn't get time to finish her sentence as she saw Andrew standing behind them. "Erm…... guys" she said grabbing their attention and when they all turned to see what the problem was, each one of the girls froze. Andrew was still angry, and his cybernetic eye had picked up a glitch through its hasty installation into his head where it would change colour depending on his emotional state. Normally it would be white but when he was mad, it would appear bright red and this is what they were all staring at now.

"Hello team RWBY. Now what's this about a dust heist I've heard so much about evening and your involvement in it? A word of warning though, if I don't get an answer that I find acceptable then we're going to have a serious problem." He never raised his voice, but it was different than normal as it was far gravellier and aggressive as though he was looking for any excuse for a shouting match.

"Hay don't look at us, we've only just got here!" Yang said while pointing at Weiss and herself, so Andrew simply turned his head to face Blake and Ruby.

"Well I wasn't technically here for all of it, I came here when I heard an explosion and these guys were well into their fight by the time I arrived." Ruby answered as she shifted on her feet. This left one person to answer and Andrew slowly turned his head towards Blake, his silent look showing that he was waiting for her to explain herself however the boy spoke first.

"Well I'll tell you what happened, we kicked butt! We came here because we were expecting these guys to come and steal a load of dust so we…." He was speaking for Blake, but Andrew wasn't interested in what he had to say and instead razed his cybernetic finger to point at to him

"You sit down and shut up for the time being! I'll get to you in due course." His voice sounded almost evil and this was enough to shut the boy up as well as to make him sit down very quickly. Once Andrew was sure that the boy wouldn't interrupt again, he looked back to Blake.

"As he said, we found out about this heist and thought we could stop it which we did."

"I see. If you found this out, then why didn't you inform the authorities or a huntsman? This is not something young STUDENTS should be doing in their down time." Blake looked right back at him in defiance.

"So I should have just turned a blind eye to this! As a huntress, it's my duty to stop people like them!" Andrew could tell that this was more than a simple heist they had "stumbled" across, there was something more to this and he wouldn't get any more out of her on that in her current state.

"You're a huntress in training! Not a full huntress yet!" he retorted

"That didn't matter to them! I found a problem and I fixed it, there was no time to go through the proper channels!"

"That's not the point! My point is that you are a student and you shouldn't have done this without any kind of back up!" Blake changed her face realising why her professor was angry. Andrew walked up to her and placed his real hand on her shoulder, now his eye had changed back to its white colour again. "You are my student and I don't want to see you get hurt when it could have been avoided. Are you all right Miss Belladonna?" She wiped away a tear and was starting to calm down now so replied

"I'm fine, nothing a bit of rest won't cure." She was smiling but it looked forced.

"Then that's all that matters right now." He heard a sigh of relief come from the other girls, but he wasn't finished with them yet. "However, in the future you must all promise me that if you come across anything like this again then you will inform me or another hunter. Understand?" He said the last part while turning to face the rest of the team causing the girls to all answered in unison with a

"Yes sir."

"Good. Now into the mini bus, I'm taking you back to Beacon."

"Does that include me?" Said the boy with a razed hand

"And you are Mr…."

"Sun Wukong but you can just call me Sun." Andrew looked him up and down and couldn't remember a student by that name so figured he was a visiting student from another kingdom so asked

"Well Mr Wukong, are you a Beacon student?"

"Nope, Haven. Came for the tournament."

"Then in the bus." His voice going back to its darker tone which Sun picked up on instantly.

"Yep, sure, I'll just go and get in the bus." Sun and the girls started their walk towards the bus and Andrew followed behind them as to make sure they went where they were told to, he was still a little uncertain about Blake's intentions right now though. She was definitely hiding something, and it was more than the fact she was a Faunus. Through his cybernetic head piece, he could hear Sun whispering to Blake

"So, is he always like this? He seems like a bit of an ass-hole." Blake smiled and kept walking

"He's not a bad person, he just really cares about his students. Also, I think I should warn you that he can probably hear us." Sun stopped moving and slowly span on his back foot to stare at Andrew who half-smiled back while he nodded proving Blake's point. Sun laughed nervously

"Thanks for the heads up." He whispered sarcastically back at Blake and then turned back around and proceeded to walk towards the bus with the others. Once they were all at the bus Andrew nodded for them all to get in and unsurprisingly, they all choose to sit nearer to the back than the front. He couldn't help but smile as even though the girls had known him for a few months now, they still seemed to be nervous around him. He then got in himself and started up the engine

"Not the coolest thing to be driving around in teach. Couldn't you have come in something a little classier?" Yang shouted from the rear of the bus.

"Yes I could have. But it only seats two and driving around Vale with students strapped to the room of my car would have raze a few questions." He replied as he leaned back in his seat. This did elicit a small laugh from the girls and a puzzled look from Sun and with that he drove them back to Beacon.

The ride was not long and nothing much if anything was said just as Andrew guessed and this was because he knew the girls didn't want him hearing anything else that might get them in trouble. They transferred to an air transport ship for the last leg of the journey and once they arrived at Beacon, they all bailed out of the vehicle.

"Right Mr Wukong, which school do you say you hail from again?" Andrew asked the young man

"Haven, you know the one from Minstrel."

"I believe I do yes. That means you're in the building forth lane down and about half way in. Miss Schnee, since you are a representative of this school would you mind escorting our guest to his temporary abode." Weiss smiled and replied

"Love to." With just a hint of sarcasm in her voice directed at Sun rather than Andrew.

"I think you should all retire to your rooms for the night as well." Andrew advised and the other three girls nodded as they turned to leave but Andrew then reached out and placed a hand on Blake's shoulder causing her to stop abruptly. "Not you Miss Belladonna. Professor Ozpin would like a word with you first."

"Hay if he wants to speak to her then we're all coming!" Yang shouted at Andrew, making all the students pause.

"No you're not. This is just for Miss Belladonna alone. Don't worry, I can promise you that she will be fine and returned to you before you go to bed." He could tell that Yang was considering digging her heals in on this one but thankfully her partner Blake spoke up

"I'll be fine Yang, if professor Tinman says that I'll be back soon then I will." She was honest, sincerer and above all trusting. Andrew turned to look at her and was surprised by this, most students found it difficult to even speak to him so having one trust him was very unusual. Yang relaxed and then smiled.

"Well if you say so that's fine with me too" and with that she grabbed Ruby and left for their room. "Don't be late!" She called back and Blake gave a small smile in response. Weiss continued off with Sun to his room leaving Andrew and Blake alone in the courtyard. Andrew patted Blake on the shoulder, and she looked up at him.

"Come Miss Belladonna, we'd better not keep professor Ozpin waiting." With that Andrew led Blake off to where he had been told to take her. When they reached the room, Andrew opened the door and let her in.

"Take a seat. The head master will be with you shortly." She smiled and went to sit down. Andrew closed the door and waited outside for Ozpin to arrive. Not five minutes later Ozpin came down the corridor, mug and cane in hand as he walked up to Andrew.

"Evening Andrew, I trust Miss Belladonna is inside?"

"Yeah, picked her up about half an hour ago. I can tell you now though she's not in much of a talkative mood."

"That is just her nature. I'll have a chat with her, you never know, I might get her to open up where you wouldn't." Andrew scoffed at that.

"You want me in there with you?" Ozpin shook his head

"No not this time. Just wait outside for now, I may need you for something else when we've finished though." Andrew nodded then opened the door and let Ozpin in and shut the door behind them.

For what felt like hours he waited for them to finish talking but knew that if Ozpin didn't want him in there and to remine out here then there must be a reason. He started to wonder if the heist was more than just a normal heist, could it be connected to the current dilemma that they themselves were dealing with? Eventually the door opened, and Ozpin came out

"So did she say anything?" Andrew asked which made Ozpin sigh.

"Nothing I didn't already know, you were right about her. She is very cagey and certainly in no mood to tell us anything. Hiding who she is only the surface of what she is keeping secret."

"Faunus can be like that Ozpin. Just as we humans can be cruel, so they do have reason for it." Ozpin patted Andrew on his arm and walked of the way he came. "Hay don't you need me for something?" without stopping Ozpin said

"Not now, I'm sorry my friend. You can leave, goodnight." Andrew tilted his head and after a few seconds replied

"Sure, no problem. Goodnight sir." Then he opened the door to the room, Blake hadn't even change one bit since she first went in there. "You can go now Miss Belladonna." She looked up, then got out of her chair and preceded to walk to the door. Andrew let her pass and she gave him a forced smile again.

"Thank you, Professor." Her voice was very quiet to a point where he could hardly hear it as she walked passed him. Andrew decided he couldn't let her walk away like that.

"You shouldn't be so hard on Professor Ozpin, he's one of the few people who is trying to make a difference in the world and make it a better place. It's difficult though as my kind have shown we are not the most trustworthy or open of people towards yours." Blake stopped but didn't turn around.

"You know as well? When did you find out or did Ozpin just tell you?" Her tone was very accusing as it was clear she didn't like people knowing what she was, it was then that Andrew noticed her clench her fists.

"I've known what you are since the evening I first saw you." Blake then turned around to face him. Andrew sighed and then tapped his cybernetic part of his head. "Sorry Miss Belladonna but this thing is a very good scanner and it can quite easily see through that little black bow. I did not mean to invade your privacy which is why I never said a word or told anyone else." Blake's head fell forward

"Well thank you for not doing that sir." She groaned then continued "Look Professor Ozpin has already talked to me about this and I'll tell you what I told him. Your kind have not been very welcoming with mine, so I'll hide who I am for the time being."

"Fair enough, just remember that for every human like Cardin Winchester there is always another like Professor Ozpin. We only want to help."

"Easy for you to say. No offence sir, I know you look different, but you are still human and you can't understand how a Faunus feels being discriminated against from the moment they are born. If you did, then you might know why I can't simply show who I am to everyone." She then turned back around and started to walk away. Once again Andrew felt like leaving it like this would only damage their relationship as student and teacher so made one last attempt to reach out to her.

"Your right Miss Belladonna, I have no idea what it's like being a Faunus in your situation. But my wife did." Blake stopped instantly, the last step echoing down the corridor being the only sound that could be heard. She once again turned to face him but this time her face was shocked from hearing him say such a thing.

"What did you say?" she gasped.

"My wife was a Faunus Miss Belladonna and she spent her whole life fighting for fair rights for all of her kind and for one day both human and Faunus to coexist in peace." Andrew very rarely mentioned his wife as her memory was linked to others inside his head of pain, torment, and sorrow but he could see that this was the only way to help Blake open up to him. She walked back over to him, cautiously.

"You married a Faunus? I know it happens but it's rare. Why?" Andrew let out a small laugh

"Why does anyone get married, I fell in love with her. She was the love of my life, my soul mate and best friend. I didn't care what she was just as she didn't care what I was, all that mattered was that we wanted to be together for the rest of our lives."

"But the way how humans view Faunus must have meant they thought even less of you! You didn't care one bit!?" Andrew laughed again but then saw that Blake was being deadly serious.

"It's true that I received a fair share disapproving looks and foul-mouthed remarks but to me all I saw was the woman I loved. No matter what people said or did was ever going to change that." Blake look completely shocked by what he was telling her.

"I find it difficult to believe that you married a Faunus, how do I know if you're telling me the truth and not something I want to hear?" even though she had trusted him earlier she was now more sceptical of what he had to say.

"Because I'm a terrible lair. Professor Ozpin can attest to that." He noticed she was still unsure about what to think about this. "I respect you too much to make up such a story just so you would speak to me, from one outcast to another it is the truth."

"You've never mentioned her before. What happened to her?" Andrew suddenly felt a knife in his heart.

"She…... died Miss Belladonna some years past." Blake covered her mouth.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to pry! I was just curious!" Andrew had to stop himself form laughing as a particular saying came to mind about curiosity and cats but to his credit, he held it in.

"It's fine, you didn't know." He looked down and sighed as a few happy memories came to the surface of his mind. "I wish you could have met her, you two would have got on very well together. The only problem was that you are a cat and she was, well, a wolf." Blake smiled and even chuckled a bit

"Just because we look like cats and dogs doesn't mean we'd start growling at each other you know." Andrew laughed a little as well

"Yeah, I know, she would have hit me on the back of my head for that comment." They both smiled at each other and then Andrew continued. "When we first became a couple, I found out what Faunus had to go through for just being themselves and after a while I found myself having far more in common with them than my kind. So yes, I'm not a Faunus but I do know a thing or two about why you hide who you are but please don't think there is no one on your side. As long as you are a student here, I will always be there for you and even after you graduate, I'll still be watching out for you." Blake's eyes seemed to water up, but no tears came out and just before Andrew could say anything else, she closed the gap between them and gave him a hug. He was completely taken back by this although he didn't push her away and instead after a hesitant moment hugged her back. Finding out that he was married to a Faunus proved that he was a human she could truly trust and in time Andrew hoped he could help her with her issues but that would be at her choosing, one step at a time.

"I'm sorry professor, for what I said." She wasn't crying however she did seem to be on the verge of tears. Andrew broke the hug and held her shoulders

"You have nothing to apologise for. You are one of my favourite first year students, not to mention one of the best in your year academically, and like all my students you know that my door is always open. Now you'd better get back to your team before they wonder what's happened to you and you can bet Miss Xiao Long will come gunning for me." Blake laughed and wiped her eyes which were a little red.

"Yes sir." She then went to walk away, and Andrew went and walk the other way down the corridor when he suddenly heard Blake say

"Thank you, Professor Tinman." Andrew smiled and simply waved his real hand in acknowledgement and both continued walking.

When he reached the exit to the building, he walked out into the cool night with the moon light overhead. He only took one step before he heard a voice

"Well done Andrew, you did just what I needed you to do." Andrew span around and looked straight at Ozpin standing to one side.

"So that's what you wanted me to do." He said when he put two and two together. Ozpin was smiling at him

"You are a special person Andrew and if the rest of the world viewed itself like you do then this would be a true time of peace."

"You knew that I would feel bad for her and try to help her and after doing so she might be more responsive of humans in general."

"Not entirely. I knew she needed someone closer to her problems to help her see that there is always someone you can rely on to help you get through them." Andrew was kicking himself for not realising sooner but that was the way Ozpin worked and it was one of the things he like about him.

"You could have just told me to do that you know?"

"I could of, but I find that you work far better on your feet then when you have time to prepare."

"Thanks, I think?" Ozpin smiled as he took a sip of his coffee.

"It was a compliment Andrew. So, do you think she'll say anything else?"

"I don't think she will say any more about tonight to me but with some more time I might be able to get her to take the bow off." Ozpin then smiled and walked away from Andrew and off to his home. Andrew decided to do the same but as he looked down, he saw his jacket had two small damp patches on it from where he hugged Blake.

"She did cry but only a little." As he walked back to his flat, he thought about what was said but then remembered her thanking him. He also remembered Ruby doing the same thing and couldn't figure out why she said it either.

"I must be imagining things" he said to himself and carried on walking, looking forward to a nice warm bed.


	10. They're Indestructible

It was a pleasant day; the weather was nice, and the school was enjoying its last day of the break after the first semester. Even the teachers were having a relaxing time while they could for it would all be over too soon and then it would be back to work. This was one of the times when Andrew found himself as one of the crowd rather than against it as he hated the paperwork his job required, he did however enjoy teaching his classes. He was walking with Glynda and catching up on recent events.

"I still think that she needed to at least have some luxuries taken away from her for a week. She didn't understand the severity of the situation that she not only put herself in but that of her class mates as well." Andrew smiled at Glynda's outburst and replied

"It wouldn't have done anything. You know her as well as I do now so you must see that she wouldn't have been fazed by that and then be more inclined to do it again to prove a point."

"She needs to grow up."

"Her whole team could do with that, but I do think they have matured somewhat since term began."

"Let's hope the second semester does something more to that effect. We are training hunters so behaviour like that cannot be tolerated." He then thought about the chat he had with Blake the night of the incident. She was still a bit detached from the world around her so he knew that she would probably do something like that again given the chance. All he could do was hope that she took on what he said and next time clued him into any criminal activities that she "found out" about. He wished she would tell him more about what happened that night so that he could understand why she did what she did. Unfortunately for Andrew she was young, self-reliant, and self-righteous. These could be good qualities for a hunter but for a hunter in training they only served in making her distracted and convinced that she was the only person capable of achieving this goal.

"They will, you can trust me on that. From what I've seen of them so far they are beginning to understand what is expected of them."

"Are you actually giving them some praise?" The way how Glynda said that made it clear she was winding him up after his statements at the years start. Andrew still took the bait.

"All I said was they were not emotionally invested in the role at the time, not that they couldn't get better with time."

"So, you still want to send Ruby back to Signal then?"

"No!" he then saw Glynda cover her mouth to hide a laugh and he then felt his face turn red. "She has proven that Ozpin saw something in her, I'm just intrigued as to what it is now." He blurted out trying to come up with something to say to Glynda's remark. All she did was continue laughing

"Ozpin was right, she is special. She got you to change your mind, something I always thought was impossible." Andrew groaned

"If she and her team keep up their current attitude and commitment to their training then I will gladly except that."

Before they could continue, they heard the sound of many students screaming. Looking in the direction of the noise they saw a flood of people running towards them.

"What is going on!" Glynda scream at them as they all ran passed

"Some first-year students are fighting in the cafeteria! It's getting out of control!" They heard one student shout back. Andrew took a deep breath as he and Glynda shared a quick glare.

 _Me and my big mouth._ He thought already knowing who was causing the disruption, it was just sods law at this point so they both ran towards the cafeteria.

When they arrived, they could see and hear the destruction that was going on inside, to say that Andrew wasn't impressed was an understatement. Him and Glynda then marched to the door and almost slammed it off its hinges. As they walked into the room a mess of food and utensils came flying towards them which Glynda stopped with her semblance. As she did that, a column that had been knocked off balance began to fall on top of them so Andrew raised his cybernetic arm and caught it. The impact from the heavy objects fall did make him crush the floor beneath him but Glynda was already repairing the room and putting everything back the way it should have been.

"Children please, do not play with your food" she said with a stern look once everything was fixed. Andrew was containing himself as he felt a furry try to overtake him, he had just finished saying that these teams were improving and gaining his respect. Suddenly Yang came crashing through the ceiling and when she was back on her feet the two teams started to laugh uncontrollably over the incident. Not a moment had passed and they had made him look like a fool, before he could speak however Ozpin appeared behind them, placing a hand on each of their shoulders and said.

"Let it go." They both sighed

"They're supposed to be the defenders of the world." Said Glynda

"And they will be but right now they're still children. So why not let them play the part after all, it isn't a role they'll have forever." Ozpin replied as he walked away.

"That might be true after today because I'm about ready to kill them now." Andrew added

"Calm down Andrew, it was only a food fight." The way how Ozpin said it almost made Andrew explode but he managed to contain himself. Turning around to watch Ozpin leaving he saw standing behind him Sun and another boy covered in a purple mush.

"I hate to ask but did you have anything to do with this?" He asked the pair and Sun gave him an innocent face

"Me! Why would you think that?!"

"Hmmm maybe because lately every time there's is some kind of disturbance you're there."

"Okay at the docks yeah I'll admit that I was part of it but we only just got here. Trust me, if I had taken part then this building would be rubble by now." He sounded proud and disheartened at the same time like he wished he had been involved.

"Sun! Don't say things like that to Vale staff!" his friend said making Andrew shift his attention his way.

"And you are?"

"Oh, I'm Neptune Vasilias. Visiting student from Haven." He stood to attention and Sun scoffed

"You can be such a suck up"

"Hay, I respect the teachers." Andrew made a half smile

"What happened to you? Actually, I don't want to know just go and clean yourself up, can't have you representing your school looking like that." Neptune looked down at himself and sighed

"Yes sir."

"Mr Wukong, always a pleasure." He said while he gave Sun a stern look which made him laugh nervously again as Andrew left them to it. He was calming down now so he decided to speak to the two teams and walked off in a determined march. When he was within range, he shouted

"Hope you all had your fun. If you've got this much energy, then my classes aren't pushing you nearly as hard as they should be."

"Sorry teach, guess things got a little out of hand." Yang didn't look sorry at all, but he took what he could get from her.

"I can assure you sir it will not happen again." Pyrrha did sound apologetic and he could trust that what she said would be honoured.

"Good. Can't have you destroying the cafeteria every week. Glynda would get really cross then."

"It only got a tiny bit out of hand." Nora said and Andrew looked up at the hole in the ceiling that Yang had created upon her re-entry.

"If that's the case warn me when you're going to go completely out of hand. I'll evacuate the school and then sell tickets to the carnage."

"Sounds great teach! We can arrange that now if you want and you can give me a cut of the profits." Yang said as she rubbed her fingers and thumb together on her right hand.

"I don't think he was serious Yang" Weiss added in a matter of fact tone

"Come on Weiss lighten up, I was only joking." Andrew laughed and all the students in front of him paused. When he stopped, he added

"You're not making my life dull around here that's for sure." The students made a few glances at each other and laughed

"So I take it that we're cool professor?" asked Jaune.

Andrew changed his face and tone instantly.

"Not by a long shot Mr Arc." That statement caused them all to freeze.

"What?" Jaune asked tensely. Andrew took a breath

"You caused property damage, wasted food and could have harmed someone who isn't apparently indestructible as you all are." Nora then spoke up.

"Well the buildings fixed now and no one got hurt. The food well, yeah can't argue about that." With a little giggle.

"That I can overlook but it is the mess you've all created and still have all over your persons I can't stand." They all took a closer look at themselves and Blake said

"Seriously professor? Our clothes are the problem?" Andrew's eye went red.

"You had better go and get yourselves cleaned up, you're all covered in crap and I will not have any of you disgracing this school's reputation with your unacceptable appearance. You'd better get your uniforms cleaned thoroughly because if I find one spot of this food battle on them then I'll make you strip where you stand, and I'll force you to clean them again." They all now looked concerned

"You're joking again right sir?" Ruby said timidly so Andrew directed his full attention towards her

"No Miss Rose. That was a threat and one I will make good on."

"Ha! You just want to get a look at our bodies don't you teach! Pervert!" Yang was still joking but Andrew certainly wasn't.

"I can assure you that I have no interest in any of your bodies. I do however know that the embarrassment that you will endure will far exceed my own so if I was you, I would make sure that there was no evidence what's so ever of this incident. Do we understand each other?" it was followed by an unenthusiastic "Yes sir" from the group as from their previous experience with him they knew he would follow through on his threat.

"Well…. don't just stand there get OUT OF HERE AND CLEAN YOURSELVES UP!" he shouted which echoed throughout the hall, and he had never seen any of them move so quickly in his life. As they left the cafeteria, he noticed Sun and Neptune run out behind them and Andrew couldn't help but laugh again. This time he was almost howling with laughter.

"Are they still the students you are so proud of?" Glynda asked. Andrew still laughing walked over to her

"I would say yes but it was difficult to identify them underneath all that food so I can't be sure." Glynda scoffed

"You either like them or hate them. You can't have it both ways."

"I can. I like them when they are my students and hate them when they are your students." The glare she gave him turned what was left of his face white then she smiled

"It's nice to see the old Andrew again, it's been years since you were yourself." She then left the building with a startled Andrew still inside. He pondered what she said while scratching his stubble which was longer than it should have been.

"Myself? I didn't even know myself still existed." He was about to laugh but then a piece of the roof fell and hit him straight on the head. It took all his strength not to scream and shout out every profanity he could think of. After nearly ten minutes of rubbing his head he finally said

"Oh they're all going to get it next class, I can promise them that." The evil half smile he had on his face revealed he was already thinking up a variety of different and excruciating ways to get pay back on them as he then left the cafeteria.


	11. The Warning Signs have Begun

On his way to the main tower where professor Ozpin's office was located, Andrew was taking note of the sheer amount of Atlas personnel and even more annoyingly their mech's that were filling the campus. He knew that if he went into Vale itself there would be even more evidence of Atlas' arrival and the worst part about this was who would be here with them.

"Couldn't he just send his students and stay up there? This just feels more like an occupation rather than a security detail." As he kept on walking, he passed by a patrol of mech's and had to contain himself in not trying to destroy them all on sight. They were necessary just like their boss but not where he could see them.

When he arrived at the tower there were even Atlas soldiers standing outside it like this was no longer Vale territory. His eye started flashing red as he felt his anger start taking over him which was only made worse when he passed by the men near the entrance to the tower and they saluted him. _I'm a teacher not a fucking commanding officer_ his mind screamed but the last thing he would want to do would be to cause a problem for Ozpin so he simply walked passed them. He was sure though that there must have been steam coming off his head because both the soldiers gave him a much longer glance than they needed to.

He walked through the main tower reception and went for the elevator at the back of the room and enter the floor number for Ozpin's office. Before it opened, he heard Glynda call him.

"Wait for me Andrew, I'll come up with you." He gave her a friendly half smile and waited for her to catch up. "Thank you, how are you this morning anyway?" she asked

"Pissed off. All these Atlas guys and robots are making me very nervous. I'm just happy to see a friendly face."

"I know how you feel. Hopefully they won't be here long." Suddenly the door opened and they both stepped in. It went up in a flash and before they knew what was going on the door opened to reveal the headmaster's office. Standing there, looking out the large window that circled the office was Ozpin with his hands clasped behind his back.

"Good morning professor." Called Glynda which made Ozpin turn around.

"Ah good morning Glynda, and Andrew too. I trust you both are well?"

"I'm fine although I doubt Andrew is." Glynda replied

"No, I'm not. This is stupid. Can't we tell him to take his toys back home?" Ozpin turned back to the window.

"I'm afraid not, the city council would say otherwise." Andrew scoffed at that notion and with Glynda walked over to the window to join Ozpin. They all stood there as they took in the unnecessary spectacle before them in the form of Atlas' armed forces.

"Ironwood certainly likes bringing his work wherever he travels." Glynda said

"He's just a big show off, nothing more. Trying to prove he's better than everyone else." Andrew added.

"Running an academy and a military makes him a busy man. He's simply doing what he believes is for the best, although I wish he could do it without causing such an eyesore."

Andrew shook his head and then he heard the elevator door chime as the door opened to reveal General James Ironwood. The general walked into the room and greeted Ozpin with his arms out.

"Ozpin!"

"Hello General." Ozpin replied while standing to attention

"Please, drop the formalities." And both the men walked towards each other and shook hands. "It's been too long. And Glynda its certainly been too long since we last met." From her look, Andrew knew that she didn't feel the same way.

"Oh James… I'll be outside." She responded which made Andrew smile while holding in a laugh.

"Well she hasn't changed a bit." Ironwood said and just then he noticed Andrew was still standing by the window. They gave each other a far more serious looks and Andrew then walked over to him. Ironwood didn't even attempt to joke with him as he knew what sort of response it would yield so acted more professional.

"Hello Andrew, I trust you have been well?" Ironwood said as he offered his hand. He was lucky that Andrew was restraining himself as he really wanted to punch him in the face rather than shake his hand. Instead he just said

"Fine, I trust you're still a jackass?" Ironwood retracted his hand and gave him an unimpressed grimace. With a sigh, Ozpin said

"Andrew, perhaps it would be better if you wait outside too?" Andrew looked at Ozpin and from the look in his eyes he could tell this wasn't a suggestion but more like an order. Andrew took a deep breath and nodded.

"Yes sir." He then walked passed Ironwood without even acknowledging him, just as if he was passing a bag of trash on the streets. As he got in the elevator, he just heard Ironwood say

"He's still as pleasant as always. How do you put up with him?"

"Because he is my friend. So, what in the world has brought you all the way down from Atlas?" Ozpin replied which made Andrew half smile as the doors closed, cutting him off from the rest of the conversation.

He hated Ironwood with a passion, he could understand that he was only trying to protect the world, but it was the way he went about it that really made him angry. As his mind replayed some of his "fondest" memories of the general the lift opened putting him back on the ground floor of the tower. He stepped out and saw that even in his short time in Ozpin's office that even more soldiers were now in the tower.

"You've got to be kidding me." He said in a harsh tone and walked as fast as he could out of the tower to get away from this Atlas invasion. Once outside he took a breath of fresh air and went about his duties for the day. Now that he was free for a while as he thought he would have been longer with Ozpin and Ironwood, he thought about what was more urgent. He could do paperwork if he was desperate for something to occupy his time or he could do some maintenance on his cybernetic parts which was overdue.

"Maintenance it is." This time he could justify leaving his paperwork for if his parts were not functioning properly then he couldn't do any of his teaching duties. He chuckled to himself as he imagined Glynda being mad at him but unable to argue with his logic which made him almost forget about Ironwood for a moment.

Returning to his office he caught a glimpse of Team JNPR who looked as though they had just finished a class with professor Oobleck judging from there worn faces and he didn't envy them. Barty was a close friend to Andrew although he had to admit that being in one of his classes would be far too draining for him to sit through. He walked over to the team believing this would be a perfect opportunity to follow through on his threat from the other day. When he got close enough, he could start to hear what they were saying.

"AHHH! I thought he was never going to shut up that time!" Nora complained

"He teaches a class that is important to the curriculum. He has to teach it and we have to learn it." Ren replied.

"Then do it in a way that I can follow! He's so dull that I almost fell asleep again."

"I know what you mean." Jaune added with a tone of experience in his voice. Before they said anymore Andrew interrupted

"Good day Team JNPR." They all stopped and turned to face him.

"Professor Tinman! What do we owe this surprise?" Pyrrha said while the rest of the team looked on in terror. Andrew gave an evil half smile

"Call it a surprise inspection. I just wanted to make sure that all of you where presentable. It's a nice day, many people are around and I want you to be at your best for the other visiting students. Show them Beacon students at their finest."

"Oh no." Jaune whimpered as they all frantically checked themselves over knowing what the consequence would be if they didn't meet his expectations.

"Line up now." Andrew told them and they did as they were instructed. His cybernetic eye started to scan them as he walked down the line and could find no evidence of the colossal food fight they had cause the other day. When he reached the end of the line, he walked back the other side checking the backs of their uniforms. When he reached Jaune he noticed something and reached out with his left hand and touched the back of Jaune's collar.

"No crap! I knew it, I'm done for! Please don't make me strip! I cleaned them honestly, I did it four times just to make sure! Please Professor have mercy on me!" he was starting to sound desperate at the end of his plea's, but Andrew waited for him to finish before he spoke.

"Your shirt label was sticking out, I was just turning back inside."

"Oh, thank god!" Jaune wheezed out and slumped forward.

"Everything looks fine. Nice job in taking care of those uniforms. Now I hope you all think twice before decimating the cafeteria again?"

"Don't worry professor, I think we've learned our lesson." Replied Pyrrha

"Glad to hear it. I don't suppose any of you have seen team RWBY around? I might as well check them while I'm at it."

"They were still in professor Oobleck's class when we left. They should be along anytime now." Answered Ren.

"Good, I'll catch them as they come out. Why don't you guys run along now, and I'll see you later this week in class." As the team went to move away Andrew added. "Oh, and don't think about warning team RWBY about my inspection. Since yours was a surprise it's only fair that theirs is too." They nodded but didn't say anything as they looked as though all the energy had been drained out of them.

Andrew then leaned up against the wall next to the exit of the building and waited for his next set of victims to arrive. Many other students came out in the meantime and most acknowledged him with a quick "Hello Professor" or a simple wave and smile. This started to make him feel much more like himself as this was the part of his job he enjoyed, turning young kids into mature hunters. When each one of them graduated he always felt pride in what they had become and would then go out into the world, to do what he could no longer. After a few more minutes he heard a very familiar voice approaching.

"I know! I'll go and grab a game from our room, and we can go and play in the library. We need to chill out after that class, and I know just the game to get!" It was Ruby all right and Andrew half smiled and snorted through his nose. _What destruction will they cause this time_ he wondered to himself.

"Great plan sis. We'll go and grab a table while you get the game." Yang answered to her sister.

"Awesome! Be right there" There was a whoosh noise as she activated her semblance and ran right around the corner and straight into Andrew. She hit him with a thud and fell backwards landing on the floor, while dazed she looked up at what she hit and after a moment or two she realised what or rather who it was.

"Erm…. Hi professor Tinman." She stuttered out. He was still half smiling whilst he offered her his hand to help her up.

"Good day Miss Rose. Going somewhere important, it must be if you're in such a rush." He asked

"Well nowhere special sir, just going to grab something from our dorm." As she said this, the rest of her team came around the corner after only just catching up to her and witnessing her fall.

"Professor Tinman!" the rest of the girls answered, and he nodded to them.

"I see. Well since the rest of your team is here can you all spare some time for a surprise inspection?" They all suddenly remembered what he had said the last time they saw him and also remembered the punishment for failing it.

"I take it by your silence that you're O.K with this. Good, now don't move." He sounded sinister at the last part and his eye changed to a deep green in colour to reflect his mood. "I'll start with you then Miss Rose." She was shaking as his scanner ran a quick look over her uniform but soon stopped as he moved on with an approving half smile. Yang was next and she was far more relaxed about it, he had a feeling that even if he did find any stains on her uniform she wouldn't care so much.

"All good teach?" she asked.

"I suppose." Was his answer as he moved on to Blake which made Yang smile quite proudly. As he scanned Blake however, he noted she was very quiet. She seemed normal after the food fight but now it was almost like she was drifting away subconsciously. When he was done, he said

"All good Miss Belladonna." She snapped back to reality and answered

"Oh, right. Thanks sir." He wondered if she was still struggling with the events of the end of last semester, but he didn't want to say anything about that right now. If she did have a problem, he hoped she would come to see him and discuss it like he asked her to. Finally, he ended on Wiess

"I'm certain you will find nothing wrong Professor Tinman." She said as she stood straight, pride showing in her face over her clean uniform. Andrew knew that out of all of them she was going to be the only one he had no worry about being clean as even on a normal day she was far cleaner that nearly all other students. After the scan was complete, which found nothing, he took a deep breath.

"All clear." The girls let out a breath he didn't notice they were holding. "Now I hope that nothing like this will happen again. Do I make myself PERFECTLY clear?" his now red coloured eye reinforced his point and all of them saw this.

"Yes Professor." They all said in unison.

"Good, now I have work to do. Enjoy the rest of your day ladies." He said as he walked off but before he got too far, he heard Wiess say

"You go, I'll catch up with you in a while." And she ran after Andrew and called out "Professor." He then turned to face her.

"Yes Miss Schnee, is there something I can do for you?" from her face he wasn't sure if he said that in a way she wanted. She looked like she was going to regret that she had stopped him. After a few seconds she recomposed herself and said

"I just wanted to apologise for that incident the other day in the cafeteria. I felt as though you deserved that much after what we all did." He half smiled.

"Apology accepted. I'm happy that you have shown some responsibility for that, unlike the rest of the students involved. They would just rather that the whole thing was forgotten."

"Well it shouldn't have happened in the first place and we should have been better than that." Andrew let out a short laugh.

"At least one of you understands that you have to be somewhat mature to be a huntress." She was now looking much more like herself. He then remembered what Ozpin had said about them still being kids and that they didn't have long to cherish it. He then sighed. "You'd better get going and join the rest of your team. Don't want them starting that game without you."

"It wouldn't bother me so much if they did. Maybe I could assist you Professor, surely I can help you and be far more productive." With a shake of his head Andrew replied.

"All I've got planned is some much-needed maintenance and I can do that just fine on my own. Please Miss Schnee go and have some fun and forget about this old man. At least till our next class together." She looked a little shot down but did smile back at him.

"Okay sir. Have a pleasant day otherwise." She curtsied to him and he responded with a short bow of his own and she walk away from him. When she was out of sight, he remarked

"Just because I never enjoyed myself when I was young doesn't mean I can always stop them from having fun. If Ozpin was here to hear me say that then I bet he would smile." Andrew laughed and then carried on with his day, doing his cybernetic maintenance was as close to fun as he ever got these days.


	12. Doing this would be a Miracle

"Welcome back. Hope you're all feeling refreshed after that little break." Andrew's class were all lined up ready and waiting for the next mission to complete. He looked the line up and down and was glad to see that they were all becoming somewhat more relaxed around him and in the class itself.

"Now, I have a special mission for you today and I would like to introduce you all to my assistant who will be helping me in this class." Andrew stood to one side and pressed a button on his arm which opened a massive door on the other side of the room. It opened slowly into a dark room, there were no lights inside it, but a figure could just be made out as it opened its eyes.

They were large and the darkest red that could be imagined located on either side of its head. It made a low roar that sounded amplified from the room it was standing in making it sound like a menacing growl. Then it started to move, first one leg then the other with each step creating a thud as it hit the ground and after a few of these it entered the class room.

It was a Grimm. Not an ordinary Grimm but a mechanical one based off a Beowolf design however it was much larger than any normal Beowolf that any of the students had seen. It continued walking forward and all the students readied themselves thinking that it wasn't going to stop. Luckily it did though, right next to Andrew and as it did it lowered its head to be the same level as Andrew's

"Good boy Reginald now stay." He sounded like he was talking to a pet dog rather than a mechanical monster.

"That thing is so awesome!" he heard Ruby shout and when he looked at her, he wasn't surprised to see the look awe on her face.

"What the hell is that thing!" Jaune asked with a nervous voice

"I think we're all forgetting something important here. Did you just call it Reginald?!" Nora shouted out while pointing at the robot.

"He is your mission for today." The class waited for Andrew to continue now he had their attention. "Reg has been designed and modelled after a Grimm Beowolf Alpha, he has state of the art electronics and top of the line armour. He will simulate a real-life encounter with a superior opponent that has years of combat experience not to mention heightened senses. He only responds to my command and don't worry, he won't kill you. I've programmed this scenario with some fail-safe's such as when your aura levels reach tournament knock out levels, he will stop attacking you so take comfort in the fact he will only marginally hurt you. Also, I called him Reginald because I didn't have time for a real pet so he will suffice for me."

"What are the parameters of this mission?" Asked Pyrrha.

"You fight him. It's that simple. Consider this a surprise attack you have stumbled across." The class was silent apart from Yang

"Bring it on! He's going to be scrape metal after we're through with him!"

"That's some confidence, I take it your team has volunteered to go first?" The other girls of Team RWBY gave Yang an annoyed glance. Yang just smiled back

"Come on, we can take him." she shouted and Ruby sighed

"Okay we'll go first" Andrew turned around before he half smiled. _I'm going to enjoy this._

"Take your places then, all other teams take your place in the observation booth." After they had left the arena and team RWBY were in place Andrew looked at Reginald and gestured for him to move on to the arena in a marked area. Andrew took his place, but he instead leaned against a wall rather than taking his more observant position.

"Hope you're ready for this. BEGIN!"

As soon as he shouted Yang fired herself off towards Reg and smacked him right in his gut, as she looked up though she saw it hadn't moved or flinched. It instead punched her right back across the room causing the rest of the team to pause.

"All right then…." Blake said shocked at how easily he dispatched Yang.

"Let's get him!" Ruby shouted and she charged in with a scythe blast, however Reginald was nimbler than she though it would be, and it leaped into the air, bounced of the wall, and fired itself at her at a speed she couldn't anticipate. It was blocked by a black glyph and was then attacked by Weiss but once again it didn't seem fazed by the sword slashes.

"Ruby, come on think! It's not a normal Grimm so how do you plan about combating it!" As they composed themselves for battle Ruby shouted

"Ladybug!" Blake ran it with Ruby and attacked Reginald in a pair. It wasn't as effective as they hoped it would be as it took very few hits, it was as if it knew where the attacks would come from and how it would avoid them. Soon it grew bored so when Blake was close enough it tried to grab her but failed as she used her semblance to avoid it. Unfortunately, she wasn't prepared for the headbutt it unleashed on her sending her crashing to the floor with a thud.

"Blake!" Ruby shouted looking back to Reginald who was standing tall so it could unleash a powerful roar.

"Ruby get back!" Shouted Yang as she fired a salvo of shots towards Reginald with only one or two finding their mark as it dodged the rest. Weiss grabbed Blake and using a Glyph jump pulled her away from the fight. Meanwhile Reginald had other plans, it jumped towards them so quickly that before Weiss had time to realise what was going on, she was already hurtling into the wall with Blake from a vicious back hand. Suck in mid-air Reginald then couldn't avoid the scythe attack from below or the fist from above so blocked them the bets it could with its claws and forced its attackers to back off.

"This isn't getting us anywhere!" Yang shouted

"I'll cover you! Go check on Blake and Weiss!" Ruby command and Yang ran off to her fallen comrades firing her Ember Celica while she was running. Reginald went to run after her but was stopped when a sniper round hit it, however before the second one made contact it had already figured out where the shots were coming from and avoided anymore. Ruby switched back to her scythe and using her semblance flew into Reginald at a speed that it couldn't gage for a few seconds rewarding Ruby with several successful hits.

However, once Reginald had calculated its opponents speed boost it then changed tactics and reverted to a more defensible posture. Like this it could dodge most attacks and just manage to block the ones that got through.

"Now!" shouted Ruby and within a second Yang had been thrown into the air at Reginald by Weiss and Blake at a hurtling speed, trying to end the fight with a final powerful hit. Unfortunately for team RWBY this was a tactic that Reginald had calculated as it had kept a close eye on the rest of the girls.

In a flash, it switched back to its high manoeuvring mode now that Ruby had stopped pressing her attack and leapt into the air. It flew over a startled Yang and landed one of its hind legs in the middle of her back and using its weight and force slammed her into the ground hard. Without missing a beat, it ran full speed at Weiss and Blake on all four limbs, Blake used her semblance to avoid a hit, but Weiss didn't have time to react. She received a headbutt that caused enough damage to her aura that she was effectively eliminated after she crashed into the nearby wall.

"Weiss is down!" Blake called out after she landed.

"Damn! What does it take to beat this thing!?" Ruby shouted in frustration. Reginald turned to face the remaining three girls, growling whilst it slowly prowled forward on all fours. It was just waiting for them to make a move so it could calculate its next course of action.

"I don't know about you guys, but I've had all I can take of this scrap pile." Yang said in a tone revealing she was done messing around as her semblance activated. The resulting explosion halted Reginald for a moment as it assessed the new ability presented before it but not before Yang fired herself once again straight at it. The flurry of punches caught Reginald off guard at it took a while before it could form a counter attack.

It sent a fist flying at Yang and she went to stop it with her hand, a cocky smile began to appear on her face although it was shot lived. Suddenly Reginald opened its fist and grabbed the out stretched hand presented before it and in a motion to quick to see pulled Yang of the ground and then began to slam her into the floor repeatedly.

"Leave her alone!" Blake shouted and fired her Gambol Shroud into Reginald's other free arm in hopes of holding it at bay whilst holding the ribbon attached to it. Reginald simply flung his arm back and pulled Blake towards him and then used Yang as a club to bat Blake away only for her weapon to pull her back to it. Another hit from its Yang club depleted what was left of Blake's aura so it let go of her thus allowing her to fall to the floor. It then took a close look at Yang who was dazed by being used as a club to attack her partner and with a final slam into the ground took her aura level out of the fight so dropped her where she lay.

Looking at Ruby now, she was standing alone but not defeated as she readied herself.

"Okay Reg, I might have thought you were cool when I first saw you but now I'm going to turn you into a junk pile for beating my team mates." Reginald made a whining sound like a scolded puppy and tilted its head with its ears up.

"Ah! Don't do that! Stop trying to act cute and let me hit you!" she loaded her Crescent Rose, primed it and then span at Reginald. Her attack landed right in Reginald's gut but without breaking its armour, forcing all of Ruby's momentum to disappear in an instant with Reginald himself flinching at the attack. Without changing its face, it looked at her as she stared back and then it grabbed her tightly with both hands.

"Oh no." She sighed and Reginald lifted her to it head while she struggled in vain to break free. There was a pause then it barked playfully and from the yelp Ruby gave, she was expecting something worse but then noticed Reginald went quiet and still.

"I think that's enough." Andrew had deactivated Reginald and it put Ruby back down.

"I'm guessing we're done then?" Ruby asked in a defeated attitude.

"Your team is yes. Alright girls any of you hurt?" Andrew asked. He got back some whines and moans, but he could tell they hadn't been hurt badly as their aura took all the damage for them.

"That wasn't even fair." Weiss said as she helped pick Yang off the floor who was still slightly dazed.

"That was one hell of a ride." She said as her head span.

"Come on team RWBY, clear the floor so your other class mates can have a turn. So, who's next?" Andrew asked and was not surprised in the slightest when none of the other teams offered to go next.

Once the entire class had had their turns against Reginald Andrew pressed a few buttons on his arm and the robot switched to a relaxed stance, like a dog waiting for a treat.

"Good boy" he said to which Reginald played a bark recording making Andrew chuckle. When he looked over his students who were all nursing their wounds as well as their pride, he made his assessment.

"So, in all, four teams went up against him and four teams were defeated by him. Good job, you all pass today's class." All the students gave him a confused look and then Blake stood up

"How? We all lost so how is this a win?" she sounded angry. Her tone had changed from a few weeks ago, over the last few weeks he'd noted that she was not herself and was starting to get concerned about her. This wasn't the time to be questioning her about it though, so he replied

"Really. Does anyone remember the mission parameters?" the class was silent until Ren spoke up

"The mission was to fight the Grimm."

"Exactly, fight it. I never said anything about beating it." This didn't help them all from looking even more confused.

"I still don't get how we won though?" Ruby asked. Andrew took a deep breath before continuing, this was something he always had to explain to the students when they met Reginald.

"Let me tell you about Reginald here. He has been designed and built by me to be the ultimate fighting machine, so much so that even fully trained huntsmen would struggle against him. He has reinforced armour plating found on Elysium air ships, an experimental power pack that could last for twelve days' full tilt without a recharge. His servos are of a unique composition so that he can move and react at a much faster rate to keep up with his heightened processing power. His scanners can detect the slightest changes in a hunter's body like when they activate their semblance or try to hide from him. Most importantly though he has been constantly updated with all the experience he has accumulated over his seven-year life making him far more experienced than any of you here. You couldn't have won but as I've stated that wasn't the purpose of this exercise."

"Then what was the purpose?" Asked Jaune.

"To see if you WOULD fight." Was the simple answer he gave.

"I'm sorry sir but that makes no sense." The way how Weiss sounded showed she was really confused about the answer.

"You all want to be hunters, right?" he waited for all of them to acknowledge that last statement before continuing which they did.

"Reginald here is something that none of you want to accept but his real Grimm counter parts do exist out there in the world. Sadly, and statistically, some of you here will meet your deaths at the hands of Grimm like this, a true monster that will be nothing like you've ever seen before."

"Great pep talk." Said Yang

"An ugly truth no doubt about it. None of you however went into that fight thinking you would lose, you all fought tooth and claw to bring him down and that is why you passed. You stayed hunters, stood your ground, and protected the world from him. Because of your actions, you might have wounded him significantly enough to make him back off, rethink his current course. You could have brought time for civilians to escape him or get defences in place. You could have made it that the next hunter to find him will be able to kill him now and save their life." They all still looked unhappy, so Andrew added

"You did your duty as hunters and that is why I'm proud of all of you today. Some students have come to this point and realised that they aren't prepared to give their lives for this and ran. They were the ones who failed. I have the confidence to say that all of you here are ready to start being hunters, most importantly to think like hunters and act like hunters. You've still got a long way to go but now I can see that you're all here for the right reason." Now they all started to smile, share glances with their teammates and felt some sense of pride in what they had proven. As they were all getting back to their feet the bell went signalling the end of the lesson.

"That's all for today, go get some rest. You've all earned it." As they all started to leave the room, they definitely looked different, like they just realised what they had really signed themselves up for. This was a crucial lesson that Andrew taught all his students, a hard truth and a necessary one to show that this was not a game. It was also a lesson that needed to be taught early on as it would be a waste for a fourth-year student to face Reginald and then run from the task at hand. He looked back to Reginald and patted him on the leg.

"You earned your rest too Reg. Power down." Reginald walked back to its storage room and then did as it was instructed.

"He's an interesting pet sir." Came a voice from behind him. He turned to see who it was only to greeted by Pyrrha

"Well everyone says that owners and their pets look like each other so I guess that's why we get on so well." This made Pyrrha laugh.

"If you say so sir." Andrew now gave her his full attention.

"I'm surprised you didn't give him a real work out. With your semblance, you could have caused him some serious trouble." She gasped as she replied

"You know what my semblance is?" Andrew raised his eyebrow and tapped his cybernetic part of his head.

"You can't hide much from me." After she realised this she answered his question.

"I had thought about that professor but as you said in your speech, he's supposed to be a real Grimm we would meet in the world. Using my polarity to combat him would not work in a real situation." Andrew was impressed, he'd seen other students who used everything they had against Reginald even when it wouldn't be the case in the real world. Pyrrha had realised this and then restrained herself from using it on Reginald. He gave her an approving half smile in acknowledgement of her honesty. If she treated Reginald like a robot that he was rather than the Grimm he represented, then she wouldn't have benefited from this exercise at all.

"Very well-done Miss Nikos. But this isn't why you stayed behind to speak to me so what I can do for you?" After a brief pause to compose herself she answered.

"I just wanted to thank you, I've been meaning to say it for some time, but I haven't found the right way to say it."

"Right…. I'd say your welcome, but I have no idea what you're on about?" she smiled

"What you did for Jaune, he told me what happened and I'm so glad you were there." Now it clicked, ever since that field trip he had seen a massive improvement in Jaune's combat abilities. He still wasn't at the correct level for Beacon however at the rate he was improving he would be there before too long.

"No thanks necessary. Although he's got a lot better over the last few weeks, it appears he's picking up another fighting style that seems very familiar. (he raised his eyebrow as he said that part) Can't think of where he's getting that from." Pyrrha suddenly looked rather embarrassed as he knew she would.

"Yes, he's improving greatly. I'm very proud of him." Andrew half smiled

"I'm sure you are Miss Nikos. He is very special to you, isn't he?" Now she was even more embarrassed

"He's a great partner! I'm very happy with him!" Andrew just kept on smiling

"Only partners? By the way you look at him I would have thought it was more than that." She was then no longer embarrassed and now looked down.

"No sir, we're just friends." Andrew suddenly looked confused

"Are you sure? Not even asked him yet? Personally, I thought you two were already a couple by the way you act around him." With a reluctance sigh she replied

"He's interested Weiss not me. I'm fine with that though, as long as he's happy." Andrew sighed at the poor girl and walked up to her. He wasn't one for matchmaking as any of his friends would attest too but Jaune and Pyrrha already seemed like a couple to him so he thought he should add his thoughts on the matter.

"Stupid boy. He aims for the heiress in her ivory tower on top of the world, all the while not even noticing the angel standing next to him." Now she was embarrassed again with a silly smile on her face.

"I don't think so sir." Andrew put his real hand on her shoulder

"Don't waste your life wondering what if, you should tell him how you feel and I think you might be surprised by what will happen. Trust me, he's not even aware of what he's missing out so if you don't nudge him then neither of you will ever know."

"Really?"

"Wouldn't say it if I didn't think it was true."

"Why do you care so much about us? Why even say this to me?"

"Because love is something special, don't lose it. You never know what life will bring but I think you two should experience it together. Speaking as someone who knows a thing or two about love." She was now looking at the floor

"I'll think about it professor." It was a bit muffled as she said the words to the floor obviously not wanting to show Andrew her face's expression. He patted her shoulder and then walked away back to his office door but before entered he turned around to Pyrrha one last time.

"You're an amazing young lady Miss Nikos, it shows in how much Mr Arc has improved. If you're telling me there's nothing there, then one or both of you needs their head looking at." His smile told her he was he was only joking about the last bit, but he was truly honest about the rest. She was clutching her right arm with her left and shifted on her feet. Finally, she smiled back at him.

"Thank you." She sounded a little cheerier and then left the room.

"Sometimes all you need is a push." He said with a half-smile as he went into his office.


	13. A Fallen Star

Andrew was getting fed up of covering the Grimm studies class for Professor Port because he was still away on a different assignment for Ozpin. This also meant that doing any of his normal classes was an even bigger pain in the ass as he couldn't plan them as well as he normally could.

"No matter the Grimm you face in the world, I can assure you that no fight against them will ever be the same. It doesn't matter if you face a Ursa or a King Taijitu they vary so much from each other in strength, experience or shear hatred they will always surprise you." He could see them all taking notes on what he was saying although he doubted that they took many notes when Peter was taking the class.

"The rate at which these things grow and evolve is still something of a mystery to the world and as we continue to fight them, we come across new types of these monsters every day. They change at a rapid manner depending upon their environment so there is no place you will not find them. Being prepared is no longer a luxury but a way of life to you now, I trust that you will all take that on board." As he surveyed the room, he found his gaze fall upon a student who was sleeping on her book.

"Miss Belladonna!" she shouted as he banged his hand on the blackboard behind him. Blake shot up and was now wide awake, staring right at him with very predominant bags under her eyes. "Is my lecture boring you?" the sudden adrenaline rush that forced her to wake up was now starting to kick in.

"No sir." She replied while rather startled.

"Oh good, I was worried that I needed to work on my lecturing technique." She didn't respond as she was dumbfounded over his outburst. "If it's not too much trouble could you stay alert Miss Belladonna, I'm doing this for your benefit not because I like the sound of my own voice."

"Yes sir, sorry sir."

"Yeah" Andrew replied unconvinced of her apology. He then carried on in his lecture but kept his cybernetic eye on Blake to make sure she kept her eyes on him. After another 20 minutes of the class the bell sounded to end it.

"Okay then, next time Professor Port should be back so you can go right back to normal. I'll meanwhile be seeing you all in your next T.I.M.S session. Get out of here." No sooner had the words left his mouth that everyone started to leave their seats. He started rubbing his notes off the board and when he was done, he caught a glimpse of Blake leaving the room as quickly as she could. He shook his head seeing that she hadn't taken on what he told her at all. He then saw the rest of team RWBY still coming down the stairs for the auditorium.

"Ladies, can I have a word please." The way he said it made it quite clear that this wasn't a request and the three girls gave each other quick glances. When the rest of the class room was empty apart from the four of them Andrew spoke

"What's wrong with Miss Belladonna?" none of them replied, "There's definitely something wrong because she was the last person I should need to tell to pay attention and seeing as you are all team mates I thought you could shed some light on this for me."

"She's just not been feeling too good over the last week." Said Yang

"Yeah, it's nothing you need to worry about at all professor. I promise you she's fine." Added Ruby with an unconvincing smile which only made Andrew more suspicious. Unbeknownst to them Andrew's cybernetic eye's scanner could tell when someone was lying and if they did his eye would flash blue. The last two statements were false.

"That wasn't fine to me. Are you going to try again, maybe with the truth this time?" They all looked at each other before Ruby answered

"We've all been really busy at the moment with school and other…. stuff so I think Blake's just super tired." The answer was true but also vague.

"Tired?"

"Yes, we're also planning the dance that's coming up because of team CVFY's unexpectedly long absence and that's another thing to add to Blake's problems." Weiss was following suit with Ruby giving him an answer that was right but not giving him anything to work with.

"Has this got anything to do with the heist from last semester?" he asked believing that she was still worked up over it and might be doing exactly the opposite of what he said by trying to uncover this conspiracy herself.

"No! Nothing like that, nothing to do with that what so ever." Ruby was over exaggerating her statement so much that he didn't need his lie detector to figure out if that was a lie. Yang also noticed that and punched Ruby in the arm making her groan in pain.

"Ow!" she said to her sister.

"That was uncalled for Miss Xiao Long, don't you think?"

"Sorry my hand slipped." He was now so disappointed with them that they couldn't talk to him without lying.

"Okay then, if you're not going to tell me then take into consideration that I've been paying attention to local events after last semester to see if there are any patterns emerging. Like crimes that happen to involve students from Beacon."

"You have nothing to worry about Professor, we'll keep an eye on her. She won't be doing anything like that again." The whole-time Weiss spoke his scanner was in a state of constant blue. _You too_ he thought as he looked at her. He believed she was the only one who wouldn't lie to him.

"Really, that's funny because I heard on the news that there was an incident the other night where by a large robot caused a lot of damage on a highway but was thwarted by several young people who mysteriously disappeared when it was over." The three of them didn't move, their heart rate had increased though so Andrew didn't need an answer to know who it was.

"That's news to me." Ruby said so quietly that he almost missed it. Now he was getting annoyed

"If I happened to know these individuals and oh, let's say they were my students for example, then I would tell them to stop getting mixed up with matters they should not be involved with." He said it in a casual tone with an undertone of sarcasm.

"Sounds like they were just doing their job if you ask me." Yang added

"Their job is to study and graduate. After that they can do what the hell they want. Until then they are MY responsibility and I would not want them acting so IRRESPONSIBLY because I would have taught them better than that." He was aware now he was speaking to the right students who were part of that mess, also he was hoping that this time it might sink in.

"I think they would understand sir." Ruby answered timidly.

"They should, one more act like that and I will make them regret it." He looked at each one in turn "Go and get to your next class and think about what I said. Clear?" They nodded and went to walk away but Ruby stopped before they left the room.

"Professor Tinman?"

"Yes Miss Rose." He wanted to hear the truth from her because until he did there was little he could do to help them. She was about to say something, but Yang coughed and gave her a serious look. She then blurted out something on the top of her head

"Just wanted to say thanks for the great class!" he was confused by her face as she looked strange, like she didn't expect to say that and was now wondering what to do next. Andrew simply pointed to the door for her to leave which she did with Weiss and Yang waiting till she left before they did to.

"Well at least that was the truth."

Before long it was the day before the dance and Andrew was enjoying not needing to do anything for once. He was walking through the courtyard and was passing by the main hall where the dance would be held. As his advancing foot touched the ground he paused and looked at the building.

"Ruby and her team should be in there getting things ready for tomorrow. I think I'll pay them a visit, see if they're more talkative now they have time to come up with some more interesting tall tales." Swinging his foot towards the steps he went up and into the main hall. Opening the door revealed the hall only half decorated, Weiss was looking through coloured cloths, Yang was moving heavy equipment, Ruby was sitting at a table doing nothing and Blake was no were to be seen.

"Things nearly all set for tomorrow ladies?" he called out. Yang put down what she was carrying and waved to him

"Yo Professor Tinman! Yeah this is going to be the best dance ever, thanks to us of course. Although some of us are helping more than others." The last part was directed at Ruby who didn't appreciate the comment.

"I'm glad you're here professor. I would like your opinion on tablecloths." Weiss walked up to him holding out two white cloths and if he hadn't had had his cybernetic eye, he wouldn't have been able to tell them apart. "Which one do you think we should use?"

"Well erm…... this one looks more appropriate to me." He said with a very unconvincing voice that sounded like an expert on the matter pointing at the first one he saw.

"Of course, you're right sir, thank you for your input. I asked Ruby but she was useless, I knew someone of your calibre would understand these things."

"Okay will everyone stop picking on me!" Ruby called out

"Maybe if you did something rather than just sit there then we might ease off a bit." Yang shouted while plugging in her speakers. Andrew walked over to a nearby table and pulled out a chair to slouched on it.

"I can see three members of team RWBY, but I fail to locate Miss Belladonna. Where is she? Isn't she supposed to be helping you?" he was being sarcastic because he knew that she wouldn't be anywhere insight. This only proved the point that Blake had other things on her mind, like focusing her time looking for the criminals from the dust heist.

"No, she just went toilet. She'll be back!" Ruby hadn't learnt a thing from their last chat.

"Oh, in that case I'll wait for her. I've got nothing else to do so I can wait all day." He half smiled as the girls all went quiet. This time he hoped he could get the right answer that he wanted from them. Suddenly though the main door opened again and in walked Sun and Neptune.

"Hay guys, how's it going?" Sun called out then saw Andrew looking at him with contempt "And my favourite Beacon teacher, how you doing Tinman?" Andrew just sighed in response

"Just when I thought I was having a good day then you appear. I must have done something to deserve this, don't know what though."

"Aww I love you too professor."

"What up Sun." Called Yang as she walked over to the pair.

"Things are looking pretty good. You need any help?" asked Neptune. Weiss walked rather quickly over to him.

"I'm glad you like it, if you want to help then you can give me a hand. If you want." The way how she acted around Neptune, Andrew couldn't help but half smile. The students then proceeded to talk about what they would be wearing the following evening, it was only when Sun mentioned he would be wearing his normal attire did Andrew re-enter the conversation.

"… it's not exactly a shirt and tie kinda place."

"Well you could at least button up your shirt up for a start." Andrew added in an unimpressed voice.

"And deny people accesses to this amazing product of a manly specimen? Sorry professor but that's not happening." Sun said back while posing to show off his body which only served in making Andrew turn away in annoyance, switching off from the rest of the conversation. That was until Sun mentioned Blake.

"Hay where's Blake? She still being all, you know, Blakey?" Ruby, Weiss, and Yang all shook their heads frantically and Sun went wide eyed just as Andrew stood up, once again coming back into the conversation.

"I asked the very same question Mr Wukong and from what I've been told she is currently in the rest room. Somehow I'm beginning to think that she might be elsewhere."

"Oops." Sun said under his breath then caught his mouth when he remembered Andrew's enhanced hearing. Andrew put his cybernetic hand to his face, covering his eyes and began to rub what was left on his forehead.

"Look, I'm getting really tired of this now and all I want from you lot is a straight and honest answer. Where is Miss Belladonna?" The room fell silent for some time as the students exchanged looks between themselves. None of them knew what to say but after a couple more minutes of this Ruby finally broke the silence by shouting at the top of her lungs

"Okay! I can't hide it anymore! Blake's not here, she doesn't want anything to do with the dance because she's over doing it trying to find out what the White Fang are up to!" she took several deep breaths to calm down while the other students in the room all froze. "wow that feels so much better now that's of my chest."

"Well, it was fun while it lasted." Yang said as Ruby glanced around them and then went as white as the others when she saw Andrew.

"Oh no."

He was standing perfectly still fixated on her and her alone, his cybernetic eye flashing red and white as he was attempting to keep his anger in check. Instead of a vocal outburst all that could be seen of this building rage was his shaking clenched fist.

"We're dead." Sun said and Andrew still didn't move. After a few minutes, he finally spoke

"Are you doing this to me deliberately? Is this how you kids get your kicks now? By making me go through maddening levels of stress. If you want to kill me then then just do it but I'm not playing this sick game of yours anymore." He never raised his voice however they were sure that even Grimm would run in fear of him right now.

"That's not their intent sir, honestly. They are just…." Before Neptune could say another word, Sun grabbed his mouth with both hands a second before Andrew's eyes fell upon him.

"Shut up! Just shut up you idiot!" Sun said to his partner. Andrew took a deep breath and fell into his chair he had been using.

"We're sorry professor. We thought that if we acted as a small team we might be able to uncover something you wouldn't be able to. If we hadn't have done this then Blake would have done it without us." Weiss was at least being honest with him now.

"All I wanted was for her to forget about this, at least for the time being. I never wanted her to make herself ill over this. I also told her to come to me if she had problems, why do I even bother trying with any of you?" Andrew sighed as Yang walked over to him with a strange look on her face.

"Professor, if I can make her forget about this crusade and get her to come to the dance tomorrow to prove she's fine then will you promise us something?"

 _You're a cheeky teenager_ he thought to himself

"Yang what are you doing!?" Ruby called out to which Yang raised her hand, so Andrew decided to see where she was going with this

"You want me to make a promise? How can I trust you to honour your word when you've all proven that you're not exactly truthful with me?" Yang didn't back down and instead her smile grew larger

"You can't but I know you care about your students and you wouldn't want to see them upset like Blake is right now so either accept our terms or don't." Andrew thought about it carefully for a moment. He really doubted that Blake would simply give up on this and he also didn't believe the rest of the team would either. However, if there was a chance this was true then the chance to see Blake look and act more like her old self would be reward enough. Reluctantly he said

"Name your price." If Yang could have had a bigger smirk, then she would have and replied

"You can't mention any of this to anyone. About what we may or may not have done. Not to the police, not to any other teacher and especially not to Ozpin. Agree to that then I'll get the old Blake back, deal?" After a pause, Andrew took a deep breath.

"You want me to keep this a secret from everyone? You know what you're asking right because if anyone finds out I didn't report this then that's it, I'm fired."

"You technically don't know anything, you just have assumptions. All I want is for you to keep these assumptions to yourself. Do that and we have a deal." She extended her hand and Andrew looked at it then at her smiling face. After a few seconds, he dropped his head and held out his hand for it to be latched onto by Yang's.

"Thanks, teach and now if you'll excuse me, I have something I need to do." With that Yang left the building with a confident swagger.

"Wow, she really is some woman." Neptune said, much to Weiss' jealous appearance.

"No argument there." Added sun "Wish I thought of something like that, I would have made you promise to be nice to me."

"Sorry but you're no way near as cunning as Miss Xiao long is and I'd never have agreed to something like that." Andrew was back to his normal self now after what felt like blackmail.

"Thought it might have been a long shot." Sun sighed. Andrew stood up now and went to go to the door.

"So, we're cool now professor?" Ruby asked. Andrew stopped but didn't turn around

"For now, but I do have a word of warning. I agreed not to speak about these "assumptions" however if I find real "evidence" then that's a different story. Be careful, and that goes for all students that may or may not be involved." Implying Sun and Neptune being tied to this somehow. The room went completely quiet until Andrew started moving again and when he reached the door, he added

"See you all at the dance tomorrow, I'm very much looking forward to it." His tone had completely changed, he sounded so cheery and excited as he opened the door and closed it in one swift motion.


	14. Dance floors can be Dangerous

Getting ready for the evening ahead Andrew knew his normal attire was not going to be acceptable so would need something more appropriate. Going into his wardrobe he looked at his few changes in clothes and thumbed through them until he reached his formal suit, it was a plain black suit with a white long-sleeved shirt and a thin black tie.

"At least I'll look more human like this." He said to himself and began to get dressed. Once he was done, he went through a mental list of things he needed to do before he left for the dance. It included washing, grooming, and tuning up his cybernetics which would all be finished when he put the last of his outfit on with his shoes. To make sure he hadn't missed anything he walked over to his still open wardrobe door and examined himself in the mirror on the inside of the door.

"As good as I can get I suppose." He said as his eyes were drawn to his only exposed cybernetics, his eye, face and hand. He'd considered wearing gloves, but it made him look like a butler and he wouldn't wear one glove as everyone would think he was copying Ironwood, the very thought of which made him cringe. His face and eye he couldn't cover up and that he was okay with as there was a reason for it always being visible to the world.

With an approving nod, he closed the door and walked to his front door to leave his flat but had to run back to his desk to pick up his scroll which he always seemed to forget when he was getting ready. He left his flat and proceeded to walk towards the main hall where the dance would take place. On the way, he saw many students heading there as well and all were dressed up with their partners for the evening. Andrew was pleased to see his students look happy as they anticipated the evenings events but then he saw something that made him change his mind.

"Give me strength." He said when he saw Sun walking towards the main hall and began marching up to him. He was wearing a dark shirt which he had buttoned up but other than that he hadn't change anything else. When Sun saw Andrew walking up to him, he immediately stopped and put his hands up.

"Whatever it was I didn't do it I swear!" when Andrew was next to him, he pulled one of his hands down and Sun followed with the other one.

"I know I said that buttoning your shirt up would be a start but as that statement implied you were meant to do some more as well." Sun looked down at himself and then back to Andrew

"Sorry professor but I didn't have anything you would consider "formal attire" so I did what I could." After examining the boy Andrew took a long breath through his nose.

"Right in that case." He said and began to remove his tie.

"WOAH! No need to get violent, I'm sorry I didn't realise it was such a big deal!"

"Shut up!" Andrew snarled and when his tie was off, he swung it around Sun's neck. Sun flinched and stood there with his eyes tightly closed until he noticed that Andrew was doing the tie up for him.

"Erm what are you doing?"

"Making you look presentable with what I've got to hand" once it was done Andrew stood back and Sun held the tie in his hand

"Really sir, do I have to wear this?"

"You're lucky you're not one of my students as I would have had to force you to go back to your room and change but this will do."

"I don't really do ties. Can I take it off?" Andrew sighed

"Keep it on, I want you to look smart at least for one evening." Sun looked at him really confused

"Why?" Andrew changed his voice

"Because I want you to look nice for Miss Belladonna." Sun's expression changed to a sudden realisation

"Excuse me?"

"If she is coming this evening then I know she will want to go with you so I would like you to look the part of a gentleman taking a lady to a dance. Trust me, she'll apricate it." Now Sun gave him a genuine smile

"Wow. I didn't know you cared so much." Andrew half smiled back

"For Miss Belladonna, I do. You, not at all." Sun paused for a moment then laughed

"You're all right professor." Andrew groaned and moved away before Sun tried to make him do a high five or something else equally as stupid. As he carried on his way to the main hall, he looked down at his now tie less shirt which was buttoned up all the way to the collar.

"Looks wrong without a tie now." He grumbled but knew it wouldn't go to waste, so he undid the top two buttons of his shirt and left it at that. When he entered the main hall, there was already a great deal of people inside but before he even got fully through the door he was greeted by the doorman, or door woman in this case.

"Wow, professor you look good. Just goes to show anyone can look nice in a suit." Yang said

"I'm not sure how to take that so I'm just going to say thanks." Yang laughed in response

"Relax teach, I'm just messing with you. Glad you could make it because we were all thinking this wouldn't be your thing."

"Believe it or not I used to be quite good on the dance floor." This made Yang chuckle some more.

"Well I hope you can show us some of your moves later!" Andrew made a small laugh out of the side of his mouth.

"We'll see, I'm not quite the man I use to be in that regard." Before Yang could respond the door opened again and Ruby stumbled in.

"OH you look beautiful!" Yang screamed

"Ah can we have a serious talk about how Weiss fights in these?" Ruby said as she nearly fell flat on her face. Andrew tried his best not to laugh so he walked away from the girls before he couldn't hold it back anymore. As he moved through the hall, he saw Ozpin talking to Glynda and walked over to them.

"Evening." He said as a way of introducing himself

"Ah hello Andrew. Happy to see you, I trust your feeling up for this?" Ozpin asked him

"I'm feeling fine. I had to be here no matter what."

"Really, I would ask you why that is but I know for a fact you wouldn't tell us." Glynda smiled and Andrew was about to say something cryptic but was interrupted by the main door opening. His best attempt at a full smile appeared on his face when he saw Blake walk in with her arm through Sun's. Her face looked more like herself, not tired or worn but happy like the time before the heist which he was really starting to wish had never happened.

"Something caught your eye?" came Ozpin's voice who sounded sly.

"Aww. I think he's happy." Glynda added. Andrew quickly turned back to them.

"I'd say that I'm pleased that my gamble paid off." Ozpin and Glynda made a glance at each other and were none the wiser as to what he meant. Suddenly Ironwood appeared next to Glynda as if from nowhere and offered her his hand. She rolled her head and then reluctantly took his hand and walked away with him.

"Oh dear, I feel really sorry for her right now." Andrew laughed but it was short lived as Ozpin offered out his hand to him. Andrew's face froze as all his laughter stopped instantly when he realised what was going on.

"Really?" he asked

"It's only fair." Ozpin smiled back. After a brief hesitation, he took Ozpin's hand and both started to dance with the others. He didn't feel embarrassed just annoyed as he spotted Glynda smirk at him over Ironwoods shoulder for laughing at her. He also noticed that nearly all the students present couldn't help but stare at them, all apart from Blake and Yang who were also dancing together.

 _She's smiling_ he thought to himself and once again, he felt happy. After the dance was over Ozpin and Andrew parted with a bow and when they were both standing tall again Ozpin said

"You haven't forgotten how to dance." Andrew felt a blush coming so turned away as he spoke

"Yeah well I'm always surprising people." And then he left Ozpin to it before he could see his face properly. He walked away to the punch bowl to grab himself a drink however when he got there, he saw Ruby standing next to it with a drink in hand. Andrew sighed as he approached

"Evening Miss Rose. Enjoying yourself?" he asked

"Meh, this isn't really my thing."

"Enjoying yourself isn't your thing? Come on now, everyone likes enjoying themselves. Even old, scary cyborgs like me need down time."

"Yeah but your enjoyment comes from making all of us suffer." She said pointing to the rest of her team mates.

"Can't argue with that." Andrew said with a half-smile as he poured himself a drink. "So, you don't even have a partner then I'm guessing."

"Nope." She sounded so disinterested about it that Andrew didn't even bother continuing that line of the conversation.

"Fair enough." After he had taken a sip of his drink, he turned to face Ruby and found himself staring longer than he needed to. Ruby was now looking at him

"Erm is there something wrong professor?" she asked, and Andrew shook his head before replying

"Sorry, I just find it strange seeing you dressed in that way. It's such a contrast to what you usually look like that I can't really take you seriously." Ruby took a look at herself and then looked back at Andrew and tried to hide a smirk

"That's what I was thinking about you!" she burst out followed by a laugh. He looked down at his suit then couldn't help but laugh as well thinking how his normal scruffy clothes would compare to him now.

"I'll give you that one, now please go out and have some fun. You don't want to spend all your down time waiting for the next mission. Or even worse, spending it talking to me." He then turned away and left Ruby where he'd found her. Walking through the main hall he couldn't make out anyone in particular as it was so crowded that looking for one person was next to impossible. That was until he found two people standing together.

"Barty, Peter. How you both doing." He called out to his fellow professors.

"Ah ha! Andy it is good to see you here. Me and Barty were not sure if you would make it." Peter answered back.

"You're not the only ones." Andrew replied

"Well we are glad you are here. It has been sometime since we were all together. You know we should really do this more often." Bartholomew added.

"Then we should go out for drinks later this week. Another evening of war stories and tales from our youth. Ah the good old days." Peter was always looking for any excuse for a chance to recite his actions as a hunter. Andrew and Barty gave each other a sigh before Andrew said

"I'm up for it. Just give me a time and day."

"Unfortunately, I'll not be able to make it this week. I'm going off for a mission tomorrow into the south east of Vale for your standard extermination mission." Peter almost shouted when he opened his mouth next.

"That sounds like a fine mission! Maybe Andy and I should come with you. Together nothing can stop us and we'll look like heroes when we return!" Peter had jumped between the pair and put his arms around their shoulders.

"The three of us? Are you sure that Vale is ready for that?" Andrew joked

"Of course! It will be a terrific tale to tell when we return!"

"I can't deny that wouldn't be fun Peter, but I'm supposed to be taking a group of students with me for their first mission. We can't have the number of professors outnumbering the students." Barty laughed

"Just say you forgot to pick them up and we'll all go instead." It was easy to tell that Peter was joking but Andrew couldn't help wanting to take him up on the offer. It had been years since he was last out on a mission, he would go tomorrow if he could, but his condition made him unpredictable and thus a real liability.

"Nice try but I think Ozpin would notice before we got too far." Barty laugh in response to Peters request.

"Hay, let the old boy dream Barty." Andrew joked as he saw Peters unimpressed face staring back at him and Barty's snickering face behind his.

"I'm not that much older then you so watch your words. I can always put a young whippersnapper like you in your place." Before Andrew could answer Peter began laughing which set the three of them all off. As they calmed down Andrew heard another voice come from behind him.

"Good evening Professor Tinman." Andrew turn quickly as he knew exactly who it was.

"Evening Miss Belladonna. I trust you are well?" now he could see her up close he saw that she was far more like herself with no hint of tiredness or anxiety in her face.

"Yes, thank-you professor." She didn't move away from him and he could tell she wanted to speak to him.

"I need to get something to eat so I'll leave you gentlemen to it."

"Very well. We'll catch you later." Replied Barty and Andrew looked back to Blake

"Care to accompany me to the buffet table Miss Belladonna?"

"Sure" was the one word answer she gave him but with a simple smile on her face so they both headed in the direction of the buffet table. As they walked, she continued.

"Professor, I'd like to apologise about my attitude in class over the last few weeks." Andrew couldn't help but half-smile

"Thank you but it wasn't necessary, seeing you happy was enough to know you were yourself again. I just hope that whatever was causing you such a problem has been resolved?" He said while tilting his head her way.

"For the time being."

"Miss Belladonna, when we spoke at the end of last semester, I said you could come and speak to me about anything that was on your mind. I know you've been struggling with something so why didn't you come and see me?" She must have known how he was feeling as when she replied she didn't look at him straight on

"I'm sorry Professor but it wasn't a problem you could help with. At least that was what I thought but I've had a sudden realisation that maybe I shouldn't try to do everything myself." Andrew shook his head

"We all have our problems that we must deal with in life but just because they are our problems doesn't mean that we can't ask for help from our friends. It is often through them that we are able to get past our problems and become better people because of them."

"Sorry sir but it's easy for you to say. I bet you had plenty of people to help you growing up." Andrew felt a cold chill run up his spine.

"Not as many as you'd think." He knew Blake didn't mean anything by it, but she caused him to feel something he'd forgotten about which he quickly covered back up. "Anyway, where's Mr Wukong? If I remember correctly you two arrive together." Blake gave a coy smile

"He's in the bathroom. He must have been looking forward to this evening because he really dressed up for it. Can you believe he wore a tie, it made him look cute." Andrew just half smiled

"I'll have to see it to believe it. As long as he's behaving himself tonight then I'll have no reason to speak with him."

"Come on professor, stop giving him a hard time. He's not bad once you get to know him."

 _He made you happy, in my books he's fine_ Andrew thought to himself but would never admit to it. They were now at the buffet table and out of the corner of his Cybernetic eye he saw something that brought his high to an end.

"Excuse me Miss Belladonna but I think I might be needed elsewhere."

"Of course, have a pleasant evening sir." Andrew made a quick bow to Blake

"And you Miss Belladonna." And walked away in the direction of the stairs. Moments before he saw Pyrrha walking up them and she looked down, most likely because she hadn't done what he'd said she should do. He was preparing what to say to her when Jaune passed by him totally oblivious to everyone else and went straight up the stairs. Andrew stopped and sighed.

"Good boy. You're who she really needs right now." He was glad that Jaune was going to see her because Andrew didn't really want to have to deal with this situation. He'd more than likely make things worse knowing him. Now that he was free, he looked around the room to see if there was anyone else he could speak to.

"As long as Mr Wukong doesn't show up then I'm fine." He meandered through the room once again noted that it was difficult to find anyone in particular in this room. He then walked to the side of the room to find a place to survey the whole hall at once and when he reached it he found Weiss sitting on her own. Andrew took a deep breath and went to sit next to her.

"Miss Schnee. Is everything okay?" She hadn't really acknowledged him till he spoke

"Oh, professor Tinman! Good evening sir!" she went to stand but Andrew waved her to remain seated.

"May I sit?" he asked and she gestured to the seat next to her so he sat down. "I would have thought after all the work you and your team put into this evening that you would be out there enjoying your handy work?"

"As you know professor, a host's duty is never done. I chose to be the one to watch the party from the side, I need to make sure everything goes right and sort out what doesn't."

"I see. You do know that even a host can have fun at their own party, right?"

"Of course, and I am having fun. The planning and organisation was when I was having the most fun." Andrew half-smiled

"Well you've all done a fantastic job. Everyone is really enjoying themselves, students and teachers included." Weiss turned to face him

"You really think so sir! Thank you, that means a lot to me."

"Indeed. I expected no less from you Miss Schnee." He gave her a half-smile and she gave him one in return. Before he could say anything more, another person came to join them.

"Hi Weiss, Professor Tinman. Can I join you." Came Neptune's voice. Weiss looked somewhat surprised by Neptune's appearance, but Andrew knew it wasn't unwanted. His cybernetic eye picked up on her change in heart rate.

"Here you can have my seat, I was just going. Miss Schnee, always a pleasure." He stood up, bowed and left before she could say anything else, he didn't want her to insist on staying and making this chat more awkward. As he left he felt the need to relieve himself.

"Damn that punch has gone right through me." He laughed to himself and headed towards the toilet. There wasn't anyone else waiting outside so he went straight in but when he opened the door he wished he'd gone blind.

Inside standing in front of the mirror was Jaune Arc, this wasn't what was causing him to feel ill however. Jaune was half naked from the waist up and below he was half way through putting on a white dress. His face was red in a mix of embarrassment and terror while Andrew was frozen in the door way wondering what on earth he'd stumbled into.

"I know I'm going to regret this but what…. what are you doing?"

"PROFESSOR TINMAN! ITS NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!"

"Really because it looks like you're putting on a dress."

"Please shut the door! Sir." Andrew did as he asked and waited to see what he would say. After he calmed himself he added "I'm putting on a dress."

"Yeah, I gathered that."

"But it's not because I want to!"

"You are making no sense." Jaune took a deep breath before he continued

"I made a promise to Pyrrha and I intend to make good on it. You see it all happened a few days ago when…" Andrew held up his hand to stop Jaune.

"I don't need to know the details. Just tell me, is this for her benefit or are you making fun of her?" Jaune sighed and smiled at the same time.

"It's only making fun of me. As for Pyrrha, I hope it makes her laugh, at the very least I hopes she smiles." Andrew let his head fall forward so he was staring at the floor.

"You're doing this for Miss Nikos."

"Erm yes."

"Because of a promise."

"Yes" Andrew sighed again then looked up

"I'm just going to pretend I didn't see anything. Finish what you're doing, and I really hope that Miss Nikos is prepared for this."

"She knew the terms so I'm just going through with it. An Arc never goes back on his word." He was certain now, Jaune wouldn't do this for anyone so there must be something between them.

"Well in that case I can't wait to see what's in store for her next. I'll leave you to get ready." And then he left the room wondering if he should warn Pyrrha or just simply wait and see what unfolds.

"He's harmless so I doubt he's going to do anything to upset her, especially since he does care about her. Ahhhhhh that image is never going to leave me for as long as I live." He said while rubbing his eyes.

He waited outside the toilet for another couple of minutes, giving Jaune the time he needed to get ready. When the door opened, Jaune walked out in a full dress and he'd put it on properly, it almost seemed he knew how to wear a dress and it also seemed to fit him well.

"Ready?" Andrew asked

"As I'll ever be." Jaune replied.

"This is going to be interesting." Andrew added and waved Jaune forward to which Jaune march off towards the dance floor.

 _He's got some balls that's for sure._

Andrew followed him out a few seconds later but before he even got back to the dance floor he could hear the roar of laughter that no doubt was at Jaune's expense. He walked out onto the dance floor and could see Jaune standing in front of Pyrrha, she was at first confused but it quickly changed to hysterical laughter.

"You still surprise me Mr Arc." He said when he saw Jaune take Pyrrha's hand and began to dance. It wasn't long before the whole of Team JNPR were on the dance floor and they made quite a scene which Andrew couldn't help but cheer along with whilst trying to smile fully again.

He moved around the room to try and get a better view and found himself near the front door before long and started to applaud the team's dancing moves. It was then he saw Ruby hovering by the door as well so he moved over to her.

"This really isn't your thing is it Miss Rose?" She looked towards him with a smile on her face.

"Not really but I have to admit that I didn't see that one coming." She laughed

"I don't think anyone did." He moved closer to her before he spoke again. "Look if you really want to go then just go, I'm not forcing you to stay if you don't want to."

"Well I would but if Yang knows I've left she'll be pretty angry."

"Tell you what, I'll cover for you. If anyone asks, I'll say you were just with me not five seconds ago. I'll keep up the illusion that you're still around for a bit longer."

"Really? You'll cover for me?"

"Sure, as long as you don't do anything stupid while I can't see you." He gave her a semi-serious look, but she could tell he was only joking. She made a quick look to check that no one was watching then said

"Thanks professor." And ducked out of the dance. Andrew took a deep breath and continued watching the spectacle before him until his need for a piss reach a point he couldn't hold it any longer. He almost ran through the hall back to the toilets and barely got in there before it was too late.

Once he was all done, he came back out and looked over the dance floor again as the commotion from Jaune and his team had died down with everyone going back to their own groups.

"Times like these remind me why I'm still teaching these students." He started to walk through the room, talking to a few other people he'd been meaning to catch up with but not long into this he saw a door burst open at the rear of the room and two Atlas soldiers run in.

"Oh for god's sake." Andrew headed straight towards them and when they saw him they stood to attention and saluted.

"Professor Tinman sir." The first one said

"Yeah yeah, what's going on?" he replied as he waved the salute off. The second solider then proceeded to fill him in on why they were there.

"There has been an incident at the CCT. There was an intruder that attacked all the guards stationed there. She was forced from the tower and headed in this direction to which we pursued her but when she entered here, we lost her."

"What did she look like?"

"Not sure. She was wearing a mask so we couldn't identify her." Andrew span round and made a scan over the crowd but it was useless, there were so many people here and many from other schools he's never seen before that he couldn't pick anyone out as suspicious.

"What should we do sir?" the first solider asked. To his annoyance Andrew said

"Nothing. Either she's already left the building and is now long gone, or she's hidden herself in the crowd that we'll never be able to find her without tipping her off. Is there anything else to go from, do we know what she was doing at the CCT?"

"We're not sure. General Ironwood is there now looking over the building." The second soldier answered.

"I believe he's currently questioning a student who was in the tower at the time and came into contact with the intruder." The first one added. Andrew rolled his head

"Take me to her."

"Her?"

"The student at the CCT."

"How did you know she was a girl?" they asked

"Because she always has a habit of finding trouble now take me to her NOW!" they jump at his voice and after a nervous glance between them, they took him to the CCT. When they arrived, Andrew made some observations at the injured men and the tower itself. When they three of them reached the elevator, the soldiers called it down.

"Thanks, I'll take it from here."

"We'll escort you up sir."

"No need."

"Sorry sir but General Ironwoods orders…." Andrew didn't let him finish as his cybernetic eye shone crimson at the soldiers causing them to take a step back.

"Go head sir." The other soldier said as the lift opened. Andrew walked in, hit the button and the door closed, all the time his eye stayed red. All the way up he was planning on what he'd do to her but when the door opened his rage disappeared.

As he thought, Ruby Rose was seated with Ironwood standing over her obviously performing an interrogation. What made Andrew rethink his words was the fact that when Ruby saw him she didn't look like someone who had been caught doing something she shouldn't like before. Instead she seemed to be trying to hide herself away from him like she was ashamed of being seen by him. Ironwood hadn't even acknowledged Andrew coming out of the lift however and continued to question Ruby.

"Is there anything else you can tell me about this assailant? Any other distinguishing features or something unusual they did or said?" Ruby was now distracted and wasn't giving Ironwood her full attention.

"I…. erm…. well I didn't…. it all happened really fast." She kept switching her eye contact from Ironwood to Andrew and back again. Finally, Ironwood looked to see who had enter the room, looking right at Andrew, he put on a professional attitude before he spoke.

"Professor Tinman. I assume you are here because of the incident that has occurred?" Andrew gave him a quick glance and then ignored him by walking into the room, going right past Ironwood. He was going for a chair near Ruby, he grabbed it and pulled it over and then sat down next to her. When he was seated, he gave her a look over to see she was trembling, he knew it had nothing to do with the attacker because she had faced far worse and walked away smiling.

 _She's scared of me after yesterday, she's terrified that I'm going to have a go at her for getting into a fight._

"Are you all right Miss Rose?" he asked calmly to which she paused then said

"Yes sir, I'm fine."

"You're not hurt, are you?" she shook her head but didn't respond. "Good, that's all I'm concerned about." She then snapped her head to look right at him

"You have to believe me sir, I didn't come here looking for a fight! I left the dance and saw someone suspicious, so I decided to follow them to see what they were doing then all this…" He stopped her by placing his real hand on her head and giving her a warm half smile. His cybernetic eye didn't flash blue once proving her words true so this time she was just in the wrong place at the right time.

"I know Miss Rose; you were only doing what any other hunter would have done. Regardless of whether they were a student or teacher." She looked a lot more at ease now and her face had become a little flushed as she calmed herself down.

"Indeed, thanks to your actions you may have thwarted any further actions that might have been made by this mystery attacker. I'm proud of your actions." Andrew wanted Ironwood to shut up, she was the last person that needed encouragement to act like this again so he removed his hand from Ruby's head and added.

"I think you've thwarted enough for one evening. Please, go and relax, get some sleep and then first thing tomorrow morning can you come by Professor Ozpin's office. I'm sure your mind is a bit all over the place right now and a good night's sleep might help to organise your thoughts to help us figure out what's going on. That okay?

"Sure professor, I'll head back to my dorm."

"Good, just no more side tracks this time if you don't mind."

"Well I can't promise anything; you never know what might happen." She was trying to make a joke out of it but from Andrew's face she then said "Yeah, straight back to my dorm. Got it." Andrew used his real hand to ruffle her hair and said

"That's more like it. Do you want me to walk you back?" she shook her head

"No, I'll be fine thanks." Her smile made it difficult to argue with her.

"Very well then, off with you." They both stood up and Ruby went for the lift and as soon as the doors closed Andrew focused his full attention on Ironwood who manged to speak first.

"I wasn't finished speaking with her yet. I still had other question."

"Oh, you were finished. You have your own way of treating students and I have mind so I would appreciate you making sure it's okay with me before you start interrogating MY students!"

"There was no time to wait for you to get here! You weren't even supposed to be here anyway so I'm not just going to wait around for you to hold her hand!" Andrew turned away from him with an evil look in his eye

"Careful what you say James, I can take whatever you dish out, but you aim for my students and I'll put you six feet under."

"Watch your mouth Andrew or it might get you into something you can't easily come back from. You of all people know what's at stake right now, I thought you could understand why I needed to get as much information out of her as I could. We have no idea what we're really up against right now."

"I know all right, believe me I know. But Ruby isn't one of your toy soldiers so don't think you can treat her like one." Ironwood turned to walk away from Andrew and looked out of the window.

"Tonight, while we were all distracted at the dance, our enemy took advantage of it and did something or tried to do something which could be dangerous to not only Vale but all the four kingdoms'. I'm doing what is necessary to ensure that we are prepared for whatever they might throw at us." Andrew scoffed

"Really I hadn't realised that they might be causing trouble for all of us. Look I'm fine with you being here, sort of. I'm even reasonable okay with your invading army filling the streets of Vale but what I won't stand for is you asserting your doctrine on my students, they're not your new special ops in training."

"They are warriors in training, they need to be ruthless and efficient at dispatching all foes that they will come across and your coddling of them will only serve in under-preparing them for this task and getting them killed." Andrew laughed briefly

"What I'm doing is making sure that no matter what kind of a hunter that they will become, they'll remember that they are human and not weapons. Think about that when you see them fight because I can assure you that they'll wipe the floor with any of your brainless automatons you churn out." Before Andrew got any more frustrated, he went for the elevator door and called it up, he then had a chance to think. No matter what happened they were still part of the same team so when it opened, he added

"Let's call it a night, I'll see you in the morning."

"Indeed, maybe you'll have cooled off by then and remember who the real enemy is."

"Listen James, I'll fight with you when the time comes just don't ask me to enjoy it." He then walked into the lift and the door closed

 _Close enough_ he thought. After everything that had happened this evening, he knew he would really need a good night's sleep to get over all the excitement and hope that nothing else would happen anytime soon.


	15. Looking out for Number One

Getting back into his flat, Andrew took a deep breath as memories of the evenings activities were still fresh in his mind. He removed his suit jacket and through it over one of his seats in his small living area and walked to his kitchen. He poured himself a glass of water and downed it in one.

"That's better." He looked down himself and started to undo his shirt and walk to his bead room while continuing to undress. Once he was down to his underwear he caught a glimpse at himself in his wardrobe mirror and sighed. Seeing the amount of him that was cybernetic always made him feel sick, he looked unnatural like a creation from a mad scientist's lab than a teacher at one of the academies.

"What I'd give to be human again." And with that he closed the door and grabbed a simple white vest and clean underwear to finish getting ready for bed. After he was changed he almost collapsed onto his single bed and without even getting under the covers he started to drift off to sleep.

As he did he stared to remember when he was younger, a time before he was a cyborg and a time before he was a hunter. To the days when he was a student and began to lose himself in memories he knew he shouldn't but couldn't help himself, he just wanted a reminder of when his body was normal. Without realising it he'd fallen into a deep sleep and had begun to dream.

Many years earlier.

Andrew stepped off the transport ship on to Beacon's main courtyard, he had finally made it. All his hard work had paid off and he was in, hopefully giving him four full years away from his father. He smiled and proudly walked forward making a solemn vow in his mind never to take a step back because from now on he was finally going ahead with the life he wanted to live.

He was wearing a sort of modernised version of a knight's armour, it was steel grey in colour and was far looser and forgiving in its movements. His right shoulder pad was larger and more formidable looking then his left as his right side was always were he attacked from first and when he did he could usually win the fight with the first blow. Under his armour more normal clothes could be seen through, simple trousers and a black long sleeve shirt.

His face was clean shaven and he kept his hair shaved short to keep it neat and tidy amplifying his clean and professional appearance. His body wasn't particularly muscly but it was a trim and fit body of a man how looked after himself with a face that was full of pride in his appearance.

On his back was slung his weapon, an axe. It was in the style of a woodsman's axe, it was steel grey in colour with a black leather grip that stretched from the base of the axe handle to three quarters up. The metal head of the axe appeared tarnished but the blade shined in the light, kept at a state of readiness. There was an unusual streak of green down the centre of the of the handle right up to the top of the axe head which looked like glass or crystal. On one side of his axe head was his personal emblem, a black circle with an old knight's helmet within it coloured grey like his armour.

As he walked forward he saw other people running around him, all with their friends in tow and making a lot of noise. He felt as though it was spoiling his mood so he went to move away from the pack only for another student to come charging passed him in the direction he was going to move. He nearly crashed straight into them and had to take a step back to steady himself (this in turn made his mood fouler as he had just broken his new vow and it lasted less than one minute!) He was just about to shout at the offending individual but realised that they had already charged off ahead.

Unfortunately for this person, Andrew was not the type of person to take this lying down so went off in pursuit of the offending student. From the briefest of glimpses all he could remember was that they were wearing a long blue and white jacket and looking through the sea of people in front of him, it was very difficult to make out where they had gone. Still he was determined to find them a give them a piece of his mind. Moving as quickly as he could through the crowd while still searching for his quarry, he could not help but notice he was almost at the main entrance to the academy. He pulled off to the side and took a quiet moment to bask in the glory of Beacon academy.

"I've really made it, I'm finally here. Now no one is going to hold me back anymore." He said smiling to himself.

"In that case, congratulations." Came a voice from next to him and this snapped him back into reality. Standing there was a scruffy boy, his dirty blond hair was a mess, his clothes were simple and he had the biggest glasses that Andrew had ever seen.

"I didn't need your congratulations, I have made it here and that's all that matters"

"still to get in here you need to be good, I mean really good so I am still going to say congratulations!" the boy was incredibly upbeat. "Sorry I forgot my manners, my names Ulysses Straw, pleasure!" he said whilst presenting his hand. Andrew looked at it then him until his gaze forced Ulysses to retract his hand in embarrassment.

"look no offence mate but I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to become a huntsman. As you should be." Andrew replied with a tone of authority that he had not right to use. Ulysses looked away from him and Andrew was sure he was going to start crying. Taking a deep breath, he said "hay, I'm sorry all right but this place is for people who are going to be trained to fight monsters, not a normal high school."

"I know, just I do not know many people here and I am trying to make some new friends." Ulysses answered back, his voice rather high and a little nasally. Andrew finally gave in and reluctantly reached his hand out.

"Andrew Tinman" When Ulysses turned to look back at Andrew, he grabbed the presented hand with both of his with such force and began shaking like his life depended on it.

"Thanks! It is a pleasure to meet you!" Andrew let out a poor smile and wrestled his hand free, with little effort he noted. He could tell he was far stronger than Ulysses and soon began to wonder if this poor boy had made the wrong career choice as there was no way in hell he would be able to handle life at this school let alone the hunter life afterwards.

"Okay, I'm going to make a move now. I was looking for someone and I have yet to find them so I would like to find them before I loose my drive." With that Andrew went to re-join the crowd in hopes of firstly finding that person and secondly to get away from Ulysses.

"Hay wait up! I will help you find them! Are they a friend of yours?"

 _Just go away please._ Andrew thought as he noticed his now tag along fall in step behind him. He rolled his eyes and clenched his teeth to try and calm himself.

"Thanks, but I've got this, I just want to find them, put them straight and then be on my way." He was walking away the whole time hoping that he would get lost in the crowd but Ulysses seemed to have attached a bungee cord to him.

"Put them straight? Have they done something wrong?"

"Let's just say that I hope they will be a bit more considerate next time the charge pass me." Ulysses tilted his head in a quizzical look.

"Did they knock you over?"

"not exactly."

"take something from you?"

"no"

"Then what did they do?" Andrew was about to answer until he took a second to think why he was after them. True they had barged passed him but they hadn't harmed him or caused him any damage, they just didn't consider him as they moved by. In annoyance, he said

"Never mind…it's not significant anymore" finally he was feeling as though it was not important, but they still needed to be knocked down a peg however it could wait.

 _Dammit, I've calmed down now. Just what I didn't want to happen._

Ulysses went back to his upbeat and positive look and just followed behind Andrew smiling rather stupidly while Andrew himself was looking just annoyed.

Later that day everyone started to enter the main hall for the introductory speech from the head master, Andrew managed to enter earlier on so was near the front of the room as well as Ulysses. Andrew was beginning to think that there really was something that Ulysses had attached to him because he was certain that he would have been able to lose him easily.

"Wow! This place is amazing!" Ulysses said with such wonderment. Andrew gave a quick look around the room and scoffed.

"it's not much different from Signal, bigger of course but that's about it." Ulysses gave Andrew a quick glance but it was gone before he could make out what it was signifying. Just as he was about to reluctantly ask what was wrong, he was then pushed aside by someone sliding between them.

"Excuse me" came a feminine voice. When Andrew looked to see, who was pushing through he saw the same blue and white coloured jacket from before and instantly began to feel his anger build up again. The jacket belongs to the girl who was now pushing through them, he could only see the back of her head, it was covered in auburn shoulder length hair.

"Oh, do not worry about it miss." Ulysses said with a curt nod of his head and a massive smile on his face which was causing his eyes to almost close. The girl was still facing Ulysses when she spoke again.

"Well, I didn't realise you were a gentleman." Ulysses started to blush

"Well a would not say a gentleman but…" his voice beginning to crack on the last word "Oh terribly sorry but I keep forgetting my manners, Ulysses Straw" he announced with a far too low bow. Andrew put his head in his hand to hide his embarrassment for Ulysses. The girl let out a short chuckle and Ulysses quickly picked himself back up with a very red face

"You are not real, are you? There can't be people like you still in the world" Ulysses took this as an insult and it must have shown because he girl continued speaking. "No don't be upset, I was truly complimenting you. I haven't met a boy who remembers he's supposed to be a man in training. Most of the boys, in fact all the boys I've met have been rude, crude and have forgotten how to talk properly. By the way my names Lauren." She said with a quick curtsy and Andrew honestly couldn't tell if _she_ was real.

"Well thank you Lauren for those kind words. You are a true lady yourself. My name is Ulysses Straw, a pleasure." Lauren covered her mouth with her right hand and chuckled again. "And this here is my new friend Andrew Tinman" Ulysses said whilst gesturing in Andrew's direction. Lauren turned to face Andrew who had now removed his hand from his face to get a good look at her. She turned to reveal a fresh face girl who looked younger than she probably was and two deep brown eyes.

"Oh, nice to meet you too Andrew" she said with another curtsy. Andrew looked on with no change in his face and folded his arms.

"Charmed." Was the only word he uttered. Lauren turned to face Ulysses again and said

"see what I mean." With a forced smile.

"I'll tell you what, I'll be politer if you apologise for what you did to me earlier." Lauren looked straight back at Andrew and went pale.

"OH! Were you the guy I spilled my coffee on earlier! I'm so sorry but I thought I had already apologise for it?" Now Andrew was confused

"No that wasn't me…"

"Then were you the guy who's foot I dropped my bag on? In which case, sorry for that"

"No I was the guy…..."

"The guy I bumped into and made him drop his books! I am really sorry about that" Andrew was astonished at how ditsy this girl was.

"No! I was the guy you ran passed and nearly made me fall backwards!" Lauren was now looking really perturbed.

"are you sure? I don't remember that?" Now his anger was starting to boil up and he could feel himself getting hotter.

"right after we got off the transport! You barged right through the crowd and made me step backwards!" She and Ulysses looked at him, then Laruen started to laugh

"What's so funny!" Andrew demanded. When she stopped laughing she replied

"I didn't think that would be so important. Even so, I'm soooo sorry I made you step backwards." She said all the while still laughing a little. Andrew rolled his head and Ulysses stepped in.

"Wait that is what she did to you?"

"YES!" Andrew shouted causing all the people around him to pause for a brief moment. He rolled his head "Never mind, just leave me alone" and with that he turned to face the front of the room.

"Aww, I really mean it I'm sorry. If I knew it would make you sulk, then I wouldn't have laughed." Lauren's tone was still in a jokey way so Andrew didn't even look her way and just decided to ignore her.

"He always been like this? He knows that girls don't like the sulky type, right?" Ulysses shrugged his shoulders

"I do not know, to be perfectly honest I have only known him for about an hour or so."

"But you said he was friend, right?"

"Indeed, we have become firm friends in that time. I just do not know much about him yet. I have spoken to him be his replies are quite short and to the point. I believe that when we have been together for a while longer things will be a lot better."

"Personally, I think you are wasting your time Ulysses. He doesn't seem like he really wants to open up to anyone." Andrew then made a grunting sound that could have been a contained laugh.

"Sorry what was that? Did you say something sulky?" Now he re-joined the group

"Don't call me sulky." His tone made it clear he was not amused with that nickname.

"Oh no, are you going to sulk again sulky?" Now his anger was starting stir up again. Just before Andrew could say another word Ulysses interrupted him.

"Look it is the head master! Professor Ozpin!" Both Lauren and Andrew turned to face the stage completely forgetting each other for the time being. Ozpins speech was short and he seem to be unfocused but Andrew finally started to feel as though his new life had begun, he still had four years of training ahead of him but he knew that once it was done he would be free to go anywhere he wanted.

 _So long dad, if I ever see you again then it will still be too soon._


	16. The World is always against Me

It was now dark and the grand hall was full of first year students that were now going to be participating in the entrance exam the next day. Most of the people were all just sitting around chatting to one another before going to sleep except for Andrew who was sitting in the far corner of the room all on his own, sharpening his axe blade with a whetstone that he had brought with him. Each stroke of the stone was smooth and gave an almost silent swoosh, the blade on the axe head was polished and so sharp it could slice the air around it without even being swung. Andrew was in an almost state of zen as he wasn't even aware he was doing this and he was truly calm for the first time all day.

"Hello Andrew! I thought you might want something to drink." Andrew's calmness was short lived as the voice he heard caused him to miss time his stroke making a screeching sound across the blade. He looked up to see the main focus of his annoyance from the day, Ulysses who was already in his pyjamas and holding two glasses of water. Containing his reluctance to see Ulysses with a gritted smile he said

"Thanks, now why don't you go and make some other new friends." And took the glass from his hand.

"Oh, I have been trying but it seems that many of these students are already in their own friendship groups and they do not really want to speak to me." Now Andrew crossed between pity for Ulysses but also growing irritation at the fact that he might well be stuck with him.

"Don't except defeat like that, go out there and try again." Andrew said trying anything to make him go away and leave him in peace. He noticed that Ulysses did give a quick look around the room and hoped he would give it another try but unfortunately, he turned back and shook his head.

"No I do not think I will, besides I already have you as a friend so I am already up from today. By the way, why are you not trying to make any other friends?" The smile that he gave him made Andrew grit his teeth as he couldn't, or more appropriately wouldn't, answer the question. Before he was about to force Ulysses to go away something else uninvited wondered over to them.

"Ulysses! Hay Ulysses!" came the voice from the unwanted pest in the room and it was the only other voice that Andrew didn't want to hear at this time.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" he said as he slammed his axe down and rolled his eyes. Sure, enough Lauren was making her way over to the pair of them. Ulysses turned around and waved at her as she arrived.

"Hello Lauren! Lovely to see you again…. I mean it is a pleasure to be in your company once more." Lauren came to an abrupt stop to make a quick giggle as she neared the pair.

"And it's nice to be in your company as well Ulysses." The way how she was speaking made Andrew believe she was just teasing Ulysses, the poor kid. Then she looked and Andrew "and of course, hi again sulky."

"Ha ha! So that's sticking then is it!" he called back in a mocking tone. Lauren just made a mocking laugh right back at him.

"It'll stick so long as you're sulking sulky! I just came to see you two that's all." Her smile seemed innocent but Andrew still didn't think everything was normal with her.

"We are fine thank-you Lauren. How are you? Is there anything we can do for you this evening?" Ulysses asked still with his silly smile on his face.

"Yeah good thanks and no, nothing just wanted to chat." She said while smiling back at Ulysses. Now this was the perfect opportunity to get rid of them both.

"Well not that I'm thrilled with this prospect but I'm feeling tired now so why don't you two go and chat elsewhere and I'll see you in the morning."

"I am sorry Andrew, I did not know you where sleepy. In that case, we will go and leave you to get some rest. Miss Lauren is there somewhere we can sit and chat." Ulysses said, doing exactly what Andrew wanted him to do. Lauren looked straight at Andrew and he could tell she knew what he was doing but he didn't care, as long as they left him alone that's all that mattered. The face she gave him was a mix of disappointment and disgust which disappeared instantly when she turned back to Ulysses and replaced with a cheery smile.

"Sure that sounds like a plan. Come on, we'll chat over by the window. That's where I'm sleeping and we can leave sulky here to get his beauty sleep." Ulysses nodded and he gestured for her to continue. Lauren put her arm though his and started to pull him this way and that. Andrew was trying his hardest not to laugh,

 _What a tease, that poor Ulysses isn't going to know what hit him._

Now he was alone again and suddenly felt a little thirsty but before he went to get himself a drink, he realised he had a glass of water next to him. Looking back to where Ulysses and Lauren were now he couldn't help half-smiling and giving a snort. "Thanks" he said under his breath and took a massive swig of water. He then picked up his change of pants and went to change in the bathroom. Upon his return, he saw another individual near his stuff and rolled his head back.

"what now" Andrew walked over to the unwanted person and was going to ask them to leave as nicely as he could muster until he saw they were grabbing his axe. Now his anger was building up again and he started marching over.

"Hay what do you think you're doing!" the new comer turned around still holding his axe. It was a teenage boy who was still dressed in his normal clothes. His vest seemed to be a padded black armour with a thick brown jacket over the top with a large amount of darker brown fur around its collar. His face was rounded but toned and he had a large amount of stubble which reached around his whole lower face, right up to his long lighter brown hair. From his appearance, he looked a little intimidating but once he looked at Andrew he smiled and put up his hands

"Easy, sorry but I was just collecting everyone's weapons for them and taking them back to the armoury. They need to be stored in the lockers ready for tomorrow." Andrew was starting to fume now.

"I know that I was just about to take it there myself so if you don't mind can you hand it over!" they were almost face to face now with Andrews razed hand reaching for his axe being held by this other person. The other boy didn't change his face or stance and looked right back

"All right take it easy and just clam down. I was asked by Professor Ozpin to do a general tidy up of weapons." He then gave Andrew back his axe which he took with some force. "There see, no harm no foul. Just next time could you ask without the attitude, it makes you seem like a bit of a bully."

"A bully. You just came over to my spot and took what didn't belong to you. I'm making sure you know not to mess with it again in the future, are we clear." This boy still didn't change his face but did let out a short ha.

"I can tell you're the type of person who is a real barrel of laughs and I have to say you know how to make a first impression." Andrew spun round on his heel and marched off to put is axe in his locker.

"leave me alone." Were the parting words he left the boy and he hoped that when he got back he would finally be left in peace and quiet.

After putting his axe away in his locker, he returned to the main hall and to his sleeping area. This time there was no one to annoy or pester him so he could finally relax again and get some needed rest. He wanted to be rested for tomorrow so that he could be as ready as he could ever be, if he could pass the exam then a new chapter of his life could begin.

He went and laid down on his sleeping mat, facing the ceiling with his arms under his pillow behind his head. In his mind, all he could think about was where he had come from and where he could go next if everything went well in the morning.

"Nothing is going to stop me. I'm passing that test, no matter what they throw at me." After that he let his eyes close so he could sleep and hopefully forget this day with its unwanted shenanigans as well as the people that caused them.


	17. What are the Odds

It was the morning of the exam and all the new first year students were all getting prepared for the trails ahead of them. Most were now eating breakfast but Andrew was one of the few who was in the locker room getting his weapon ready and finishing putting his armour on. Once he put on his right shoulder plate and strapped it onto his body, he grabbed his axe and swung it into his harness on his back. After hearing the click that meant his weapon was in the right place, he slammed his locker closed and walked out of the room.

As he was leaving he saw a large group of people heading towards the locker room and he was glad that he had finished what he needed to do. That amount of people would have made him agitated not to mention he didn't what certain people pestering him. Today he needed to focus on what he needed to do and that was to pass the exam.

He reached the cliff side and was the first student there, he was so early that there were no other people there what so ever. Looking around the area he made the decision to do some quick exercises and stretches to further prepare himself for the exam. After another 30 minutes, more people started arriving, several students followed by two teachers with one of them being the only teacher he knew from appearance.

"Good morning students I'm professor Ozpin and This is professor Port. Now that you've all had a good night's sleep we can get started on today's exam." Ozpin spent some time going over the rules of the exam, they had to retrieve an artefact from a supposed temple shine and return to the cliff. It sounded easy enough until he mentioned that they would need to partner up with someone and then be stuck with them for the rest of their time a Beacon.

 _Shit, just what I needed_ Andrew thought to himself so he decided to complete this exam on his own and prove that he didn't need anyone to be his partner. Once everything had been explained to them it was time to start the exam with one more part added before they set off. They would need to use a landing strategy after being sent flying towards the forest.

 _Guess that it can't be too easy._

Suddenly a student was sent catapulting into the air and towards the forest so Andrew got himself ready to be sent flying. After four other students were in mid-air it was his turn, the catapult initiated and before he knew it he was in the shy and hurtling towards the trees below. Now he needed to employ his landing technique which he had only just come up with thanks to his semblance.

Andrew's semblance was the ability to create tangible spaces that were unbreakable so long as he focused on them. He called them Barriers as he usually used them as walls to separate him from his enemies and their attacks, they had the appearance of extremely thin glass and unless you were looking for them it would be impossible to spot them. He could create them at any angle, turn them into any shape his mind could imagine and also project them at distance from his body.

"Time to see if this will work!" After a quick fall, he then seemed to be running on air. After little bouts of running he would then descend some distance, roll, and run on air once again until he reached the tree line where he grabbed a thick branch. Now he started to jump down branch by branch until he was on the ground.

"Worked better than I thought it would." He said in utter surprise and took off into a full blow run to reach the supposed shine in the centre of the forest.

"If I get through this on my own then I can prove I don't need any partner!" this was his theory. The thought of having to spend any time with someone else caused him to shudder. He was ducking and weaving through the trees and vegetation so as to maintain his speed and momentum. Whilst he was doing this he was only looking straight ahead, he was acting as if he was wearing blinkers.

He ran through a large bush and stopped immediately when he came face to face with three Beowolf's. They had all caught each other by surprise.

"This will be fun." He said and made an evil smile. The three Grimm gave a combined roar and charged him on all fours so Andrew retaliated by running back at them. He crashed into the first one with a right shoulder barge and the creature was not only stopped but sent flying back. In a split-second Andrew had grabbed his axe, swung it around sliced the second Grimm through the mouth and took the top of its head off. The third Grimm pounced on him which did force him to the ground but he managed to land with his axe between him and the Beowolf's mouth. It snarled and slobbered trying to bite through the axe handle, so Andrew got his legs into the Grimm's chest and kicked it off but unfortunately the Grimm took the axe with it.

"You better give that back or I'm going to rip you apart!" now the other Grimm had gotten back on its feet and it was growling menacingly.

"Fine both of you then!" and he ran into them as they ran to him. They then stopped abruptly after they smacked into one of Andrew's Barriers. They both stumbled back allowing Andrew to lunge in and grab his axe and wrench it from the Grimm's jaws. He span and his axe started to hum followed by a slash creating a wave that carved the two Grimm in half from the waste.

"Told you." As he looked up he saw he had also sliced all the trees behind them as well. He also had to take a quick breath after his last attack

"Damn I thought you might need some help but I guess the forest needs it more." Andrew turned around to where the voice came from. That was when he made eye contact with the guy from yesterday who was going to take his axe from his bed area sitting in a tree behind him.

"Fuck" he said under his breath while still looking at him

"So a night's sleep didn't help you make a new first impression. Should have figured that." And he jumped down to the ground. All Andrew did in response was turn around to walk away although now he wasn't in a rush so just casually put his axe back in its holster.

"My names Chris Lionheart by the way, never did get yours?" Andrew dropped his head.

"Let's just get this over and done with."

"Didn't you hear professor Ozpin, first person we make eye contact with is our partner so that makes us partners." Andrews silence only encouraged Chris to continue "Lets at least try to get along, last night was not the best way for us to start but we can try make it better go of it now." Andrew stopped, sighed and responded

"Andrew, Andrew Tinman. There, that what you wanted?" Chris moved next to him

"Well it's a start." With that Andrew started to move again and Chris scoffed as he walked after him. After walking through the forest for a while Chris spoke up

"How did you stop them?" they both kept walking

"Semblance" was Andrew's one word reply

"I figured that out, what is your semblance"

"I can make invisible barriers." Chris raised an eyebrow

"Wow, that's a unique ability. How does that work?" Andrew stopped

"How about we focus on the task at hand rather than getting to know each other."

"I actually wanted to know so if we get in a fight I don't get caught up in it." They both stood there looking at each other. A few seconds later they both moved off.

Before long they arrived at the shine but before they got near it they heard an explosion coming from the forest behind them. Chris looked back but Andrew never even stopped moving.

"We should go and check it out." Chris said

"No. We get the artefact, we get back to the cliff, exam passed."

"What if there's someone in trouble?"

"They can handle it. We all came here knowing the risks." Chris made a single laugh

"Do you even know what we're all here for? To become hunters, not to collect fake artefacts. I'm going to check it out." Chris then turned around and went in the direction of the explosion. Andrew stood there watching him leave.

"Great, so this is my partner." He was now wondering whether he would pass the exam, having a partner might mean they would both need finish instead of just him. He sighed, rolled his head and then followed Chris, catching him up in no time.

"Glad you changed your mind." Chris said

"Let's get this done and get on with the exam."

"Do you even care that someone might be hurt?" the pause that followed told Chris all he needed to know so he shook his head and sneered. "Wow, you're in the right place." Andrew still didn't response and they both just carried on walking.

After a while they heard a second explosion and it was much louder. With that they then started moving quicker to arrive at a charred clearing where Andrew saw another familiar face, Ulysses who was running from a pack of Ursa.

"Give me strength" he said knowing this would happen, Ulysses was not the type of person who should be here. Andrew ran towards the Grimm but was surprised when Ulysses turn around and deploy his weapon.

The backpack that he was wearing all day yesterday suddenly opened and in seconds and a make shift E.X.O-suit came out, linking to several key points on his body. Over his hands, the suit formed large metallic fists which he used to punch the Ursa and with each punch came an explosion that obliterated them. After the smoke cleared Andrew skidded to a stop just as Chris overtook him.

"Bloody hell! That was impressive!" he screamed at Ulysses causing him to turn and face the new comers

"Well thank you. I had not yet tested it properly so…Andrew! How good to see you! How goes your exam so far?" Andrew sighed

"Yeah its fine…. got this guy as my partner so things are going swimmingly." He was being sarcastic but he'd forgotten that Ulysses was not really aware of that concept.

"I agree with my new partner, we're already so coordinated that we both thought of coming here to see if someone needed our help."

 _Out of Chris or Ulysses I really don't know which one was the worse to end up with as a partner_ he thought to himself wishing that he had never even seen any of them. After a second thought he suddenly realised that there was one person who would be worse and she was nowhere in sight, luckily.

"Congratulations to you both. I'm still looking for a partner but I was hoping it was going to be you Andrew."

"Aww, sorry but he got there first." Andrew said thumbing towards Chris

"Well I got to say, you've got an impressive piece of kit there. Did you make that yourself?"

"Yes I did. It has been an ongoing project of mine for the last three years."

"Wow, that's amazing. Seriously you're good mechanic." Ulysses started smiling and was going to continue talking but was shoved to the side by Andrew. Before either Chris or Ulysses knew what was going on another Ursa was charging towards them and was now aiming at Andrew. It was just about to touch him but smacked straight into an barely visible barrier causing it to shimmer in the light, now it was confused and Andrew was excited.

There was then a pressure on his shoulders and he couldn't move as a shadow came over him. As he looked up he saw Chris leaping over not only him but his barrier only for his new partner to land on the back of the Ursa. Andrew took down his barrier to try and kill the Grimm but Chris got there first.

He unleashed his weapons, a pair of gauntlets which covered his forearms made from a reddish-brown metal with dark brown leather straps and gloves. They had claws that extended like cat claws with mounted sub machineguns on the top of the forearm of the gauntlets as well as a single retractable blade underneath on the underside of them.

The Grimm started flailing trying to reach Chris on top of his head, Chris on the other hand was just riding the monster. He unleashed the claws from his fingers and jumped down its back using his claws to scratch down its back making the creature roar, once he was back on the ground the Grimm went berserk and changed target. Every attack it made was too slow for Chris who moved around each hit and shot back when it left itself venerable. Finally, after he had whittled it down he unleashed his single blade on his right arm and jammed it into the Ursa's bottom jaw and right into its brain. They both remained in this pose until Chris removed the blade and the Grimm fell to the ground and began to fade.

"Thanks for the leg up partner. Great team work." Andrew scoffed and started to walk back to the shine as Ulysses got back to his feet.

"Thank you for saving Andrew. I owe you one." He never even registered the incident and kept on walking. Chris walked up to Ulysses

"I'm guessing you know him? You did know his name before he said anything."

"Yes I do. We are good friends which is why I was looking for him. You found him first so I'll find someone else." All the while he spoke he was smiling

"Sorry about that, if you want you can have him. I have a feeling he's not happy with this arrangement." They then both walked of after Andrew.

When they were back at the shine, they looked over the artefacts and could see they were not real relics just store bought statues.

"Hmm, didn't think they would be real." Chris joked

"Does it matter. We were told to get one of these and get back. Looking at these I can see that there are some missing already. If we hadn't have gone off to see what caused the explosion, then we would already be back at the cliff by now." Ulysses sighed thinking that he was the cause of that last comment which Chris picked up on.

"I don't think it matters when we get back, just as long as we all get back there safely. We did the right thing."

"if you say so." Andrew looked at all the statues in turn and did notice that most were original but there were a few copies. "There's two emerald dogs?"

"Thanks for pointing that out." Chris said chuckling

"Why two? Do they mean something or were they just lazy about choosing artefacts?" Now the other two looked at each other and then back to Andrew.

"I believe that they do in fact mean something. Maybe we should pick them and then we can find out together." Ulysses looked and sounded happily curious. Andrew then wished he'd not said anything and left his opinions to himself. As he was about to say something to deter him from doing that Chris grabbed one of the dogs.

"Hay!" Chris started to toss the statue in his hand

"Come on, I think it will be fun to find out. Go ahead Ulysses!" Ulysses rushed over and was about to pick it up but then stopped.

"No I should not do anything until I find a partner."

"Well good luck with that." Andrew said and went to walk off.

"Fine, we'll help you find someone. There's an even number of students so there will be someone who doesn't have a partner yet." Chris said as he walked over to Ulysses.

"Then wait here and someone will find you. Jobs done. Now we'd better get a move on." Andrew pointed in the direction of the cliff but Chris didn't move

"There's no rush, we can wait. Also you can't go back without this statue." Chris waved it at Andrew who looked back in anger. He walked back over to the pair and then sat down on the floor whilst leaning against one of the pillars on the shine.

"Andrew, you do not need to stay. You can go if you wish?" Ulysses said looking down at the floor.

"Don't encourage him. He needs to learn that some tests are more than they seem."

"We are supposed to be completing a mission, like we would in real life. Not waiting around to make sure someone else gets a partner."

"Did you think that this was like a normal school? Do what the teacher says and get a gold star. This is a school that is here to train the next generation of hunters, to help them learn what they need to be in order to do their job after graduation."

"Like following mission orders." Andrew snapped back so Chris shook his head in defeat and made no attempt to say anything more. Then there came another voice.

"Is that sulky I here down there?" Andrew was on his feet and in a rage before he even knew where the voice came from.

"I know that voice! Where are you!" he shouted, "Come out here!" he was spinning around but failed to notice that Lauren was walking on the stone archway above his head. She jumped down away from him and landed next to Ulysses.

"Please tell me that you two are not partners." She asked with hope in her voice.

"He's not but I'm paired with that guy over there." Chris said in a deflated tone. Lauren looked straight into Ulysses eyes and latched on to him.

"Hi partner!" she screeched in his ear.

"Miss Lauren. It is a pleasure to see you again. I trust the exam is going well for you?"

"Very well, I just found my partner!" Ulysses blushed and Laruen grabbed his arm "Now which statue should we take?" Chris looked at the new comer and Ulysses then back to his partner who looked miserable and grumpy at the girl who just joined them. He then turned his gaze back to Ulysses

"Lucky bastard." He said to himself with a smile on his face. Chris then walked over to Andrew and said, "You know her?" Andrew didn't take his eyes of Lauren

"Yes. I know her. Now that this is all done can we finally get back to the cliff?"

"You got a problem?" Andrew slowly turned to Chris. "You think you were my first choice for partner? I'm trying to at least make this work but you're not making this easy."

"I never asked for you to be my partner either so why don't you just get lost."

"That's not an option anymore. Like it or not we're stuck together. Deal with it." Andrew groaned and then started walking away. To be replaced by Ulysses and Lauren.

"What's sulky's problem?" Lauren asked.

"I'm thinking he's not happy with…. wait sulky?" Chris chuckled

"Yes, don't you think it suits him?" Chris looked at Andrew who was now a fair few yards away and then back to Lauren

"Yeah, I do."

"Please do not be hard on him, he just requires some space." Ulysses said and ran off after Andrew. When he caught up to him, Andrew never said anything and just kept on walking, a little quicker than he had previously been walking as he was trying to out walk Ulysses.

"Look Andrew, I chose the emerald dog. It is the same one as you."

"Wonderful." Andrew was using a sarcastic tone and had forgotten that it was above Ulysses. This caused him to shake his head in annoyance.

"Is Chris a good partner for you?"

"No but I've got to live with it. Among other things." Ulysses was confused

"Is he not a very nice person? When I spoke with him he seems like a decent and friendly man." Andrew was going to answer when he felt a cold chill run down his spine and stopped moving grabbing Ulysses firmly on his shoulder forcing him to stop as well. Before Ulysses could speak Andrew put his finger to his lips and pointed to his right.

On the other side of the bushes was something big but this area of the forest was dark, too dark and he couldn't make it out. Ulysses was looking in the same direction, having his hand still on Ulysses shoulder he could feel him tremble a bit.

 _He going to get himself killed, I know it_

Trying to make sure that Ulysses didn't cause a mess he moved his hand to his chest and started to push him back slowly and quietly. As he was doing so the thing in the bushes move revealing its glowing red eyes, it then roared and bounded out of the bushes showing itself as a Beringel.

Andrew grabbed his axe and swung it up ready for a fight but he was too slow and the Grimm smacked him away into a tree then focused its attention on Ulysses as it pounded its chest. Ulysses engaged his E.X.O suit legs, pinning him to the ground and opened his hands to receive the great Grimm's fists. The force of the clash shook the forest around them and Ulysses was afraid he was not going to be able to hold the creature back but just managed to maintain his stance.

The Grimm tried to retrieve its fists but Ulysses wouldn't let them go so as to keep the beast in one place. It continued roaring at him and went into a burning rage as it stomped and whaled.

"Andrew! Are you okay!?" he yelled at Andrew who was slouched against the tree he hit. Ulysses couldn't move from where he was but he also knew that as long as he held onto the Beringel it couldn't go anywhere either.

"Someone help us!" he started shouting. Then the Grimm went calm and looked right at him, snarling showing all its teeth. He knew what was coming so activated his flak canon from the back of his suit and opened fire on the Grimm. Unfortunately, it was designed for anti-air so had minimal effectiveness on it so did little more than keep the Grimm from biting him.

Then there was a ball of fire that engulfed the Grimm and Ulysses was so surprised he let go of it and let it fall back.

"He's a big guy!" Called Chris

"You know what they say, the bigger they are!" Replied Laruen. Ulysses now unplanted his feet so he could move to see the pair who had come to help. Lauren ran right passed him and started to attack the Beringel using her weapons

She wore two red boots with a small heal that nearly reached her knees. They had blades that popped out along the back and front, running from the top right to the toe. Located on either side of the blades were two holes in which a jet stream of dust could be unleashed providing her with powerful elemental kicks as well as a projectile weapon.

Her style of fighting was a mix of taekwondo and break dancing, focusing all her power into her kicks and making her not only light on her feet but also unpredictable. She was keeping the Grimm distracted so Chris ran over to Ulysses

"Ulysses! How are you doing?"

"Shook up but I am functional. You must go and see to Andrew, he was knocked into a tree over there and I have not seen him get back up!" Chris looked over to Andrew and then said

"Help Lauren keep it busy!" Ulysses instantly turned around and began firing his flak canon again in hopes he could disorientate the beast rather than damage it. Chris ducked and ran pass the Grimm while it was busy and got to Andrew.

"Get up! Come on get up!" he shouted at him and was going to slap his face until Andrew grabbed his wrist.

"I heard you." He said with a glare.

"Good not on your feet!" Andrew then shot right up. Chris watched the battle for a few seconds and could see that his style of combat and theirs were not going to cut it. "We've got to take this thing down and quick! It's just soaking up our attacks, think you can do that slice thing again?" Andrew made an evil smile and replied

"Sure." And with that he ran past Chris who sighed and followed him into battle.

Andrew charged in and swung his axe creating his barrier slash but the Beringel saw him too soon and jumped up into the trees, safe from the attack. Andrew shouted in rage but before he could think the Grimm landed behind him. It raised its fist only for Chris to perform a series of slashes on it with his blades causing the creature to cry out and swing for him instead.

"We need to pin it down!" Ulysses shouted and ran over to the Grimm trying to grab its other arm which he did but didn't have time to lock himself down so it lifted him off the ground and went to bash him against another tree.

"He's going to be the death of me!" Andrew said as he used his axe to slice the tree down before Ulysses made impact. Now the Grimm was roaring and swinging a screaming Ulysses on one arm.

"I'll get him!" Laruen shouted and ran the length of its arm, latched onto Ulysses then a sudden force pulled them into the ground. The Beringel went to slam its other fist into them but Chris jumped into it and used his claws to dig into its hand then its fist fell to the ground as if it was attached to an impossible weight.

"Lock your suit down now!" Chris shouted and Ulysses didn't need to be told twice as he locked his feet into the ground and the Grim was suck in place. Chris then shouted to Andrew

"Do it now!" Andrew charged up his axe and ran towards the Grimm face on watching it roar in frustration as it was suck in place and tried to buck its feet. Andrew cried out and unleashed barrier slash much more powerful than before but in a vertical motion, carving the Grimm in half from dead to crotch. After a few seconds, it collapsed and then started to fade as the four of them looked at the remains and made a cheer. All except Andrew who put his axe away and took a deep breath in order to catch himself from falling forward himself.

"That was amazing! It didn't stand a chance!" Lauren was so happy about this that she was dancing, Chris pulled himself to his feet and gave a laugh.

"Damn right! We make a good team."

"Indeed, well you three did. I was more in the way than anything else." Ulysses was down hearted when he spoke but Lauren hugged him

"What are you talking about. You held your own against it while Andrew was down, that's not being in the way."

"Andrew was down protecting me from that thing in the first place. If I was a better hunter, then I would…"

"Shoulda, woulda coulda. Don't think like that. Laurens right, you stopped it from harming my partner and that's what being a hunter is all about." Chris' words penetrated Ulysses downer and he looked at him and smiled. Andrew was still panting but then said

"Can we get back to the cliff now, the sooner this is over with the better."

"You might have said that a little more diplomatically but I do agree with you. I think we've had enough for one day." Chris said and retracted his claws. "Come on everyone." He then started walking away followed by Lauren and Ulysses. Andrew paused for a few seconds then followed the others.

After they got back to the cliff, they were told to pair up with the other people who had the same artefact which Andrew already knew. Then they went back to the main hall and the team naming ceremony began. Andrew wasn't paying attention to it until the team before his.

"Summer Rose, Taiyang Xiao Long, Raven Branwen and Qrow Branwen. The four of you retrieved the black crow pieces, from this day on you shall work together as team STRQ led by Summer Rose." There was a round of applause after Professor Ozpin spoke then it was their turn so they walked onto the stage.

"Chris Lionheart, Ulysses Straw, Lauren Tornade and Andrew Tinman. The four of you retrieved the emerald dog pieces, from this day on you shall work together as team CULA (Cerulean) led by Chris Lionheart." Andrew was happy he wasn't chosen to lead, the thought of it made him uncomfortable. After looking at Chris though it seemed that he was worried about this decision.

They then left the stage together with them all smiling and laughing apart from Andrew again. He waited till the ceremony was done and when Ozpin was alone. When the professor was coming down the steps from the stage, Andrew decided that he needed to speak with him regarding the team he was now on.

"Professor Ozpin." He said once Ozpin was off the stage.

"Ah, Mr Tinman. What can I do for you?" Ozpin replied as he stopped in front of Andrew.

"Sir can I make a request?" he was standing as though he was a soldier in front of a general but Ozpin simply smile back at him.

"Of course."

"Can I please be placed on my own team with no one else."

"Why, not happy with your team mates already?"

"I work best on my own, they will only slow me down." Ozpin raised an eyebrow then said

"Not from what I saw in the exam, I think you will work well with them." Andrew scoffed

"You mean carry them. They would have been killed by that thing without me." Ozpin smiled again as he shook his head.

"If that's how you saw it. Being a part of a team is crucial for your huntsmen training as well as being something you will befit from in a more personal way. For the time being I will leave things as they are for the first semester, if after then you still feel this way then we will talk about it. Until then I suggest you try to get alone with your new roommates or it will be a long semester." He then walked away from Andrew who was standing the exact same way.

"Everyone's against me, even the teachers." He then left the main hall and decided he needed to relax and went to his new room so he could reflect on the day's events and his future at Beacon.


	18. This is going to be an Interesting Day

Waking up was more of a hassle than normal as Andrew tried to force his one eye to stay open but after a few attempts it finally manged to do as it was told. He then began wondering why he was dreaming about his old memories from his days as a student at Beacon.

"Never good when I start dreaming." He muttered to himself and slowly rolled out of bed planting his feet on solid ground. His joints were aching this morning, especially what was left of him that was connected to his cybernetics. He turned his head to look at his right shoulder and then started to rub it with his left hand which did nothing to alleviate his pain. After a while he stood up and walked over to his chest of drawers where he kept several pots containing some medication and reached for his pain killers. Without even thinking he took two at once and grabbed a glass of water he left on his bedside table to help swallow them.

"How I miss being young, forget that I miss being whole a lot more." Andrew took a look at his hands, not his cybernetic one as much but his real hand. "What am I? An old man sitting in his armchair dreaming about his youth. I've still got plenty of life in me yet." With that Andrew then took a shower and started to get ready for the day ahead. Once he was dressed and had finished his breakfast he headed out of his flat to see Ozpin regarding the incident from last night.

Andrew arrived at the tower and proceeded to the elevator that would take him to Ozpin's office at the top of the tower, he pressed the call button and was not surprised that it was already on the ground floor. He stepped in, pressed the floor button, and waited as it took him to the top. When it arrived, the elevator chimed and the door opened revealing Ozpin's office. As Andrew walked in he could see that Ozpin was sitting at his desk while Glynda and Ironwood stood in front of him arguing about what had happened.

"What would you have us do James? Put every student in prison while we try and figure out who it was?" Glynda sounded annoyed as though this topic had gone on for some time before he had arrived.

"We can't just sit by and do nothing! They are here and we need to try and contain them before they attack again." Ironwoods mood hadn't changed from last night so Andrew braced himself for what was to come next by saying

"Hmm, why didn't I think of that? Try and stop them before they cause more trouble. Seems like a genius idea." Ironwood snapped his head round so fast that he had already fixed his gaze on Andrew even before he had finished speaking.

"I'm not going to tolerate your wit this morning Andrew so if you've not got anything helpful to say then just keep quiet!" Andrew raised his eyebrow

"Someone got out of bed on the wrong side this morning." Before Ironwood could answer however Ozpin said

"Enough. Both of you. Now that we are all here, we'll wait for Miss Rose to arrive and get some more information on last night's events."

"If he'd have let me finish my questioning last night then this wouldn't be necessary." Andrew shook his head

"From experience, I can say that at the time your mind isn't as focused after being in a situation like that. Once you've have time to come down and relax you tend to remember things somewhat clearer."

"What ever happened doesn't change the fact that they were here!"

"We were very much aware of that, thankyou James." Glynda remarked

"Fantastic! You're aware. Now are we going to do something about it or shall we just stay the course and continue to ignore what's right in front of us."

"Well we could act like hunters about it and come up with a plan or we could just shout and begin having arguments with each other instead."

"Andrew you're not helping" Now even Glynda was turning on him so Andrew simply shut his mouth and walked over to Ozpin's desk. As he did the elevator chimed causing Ozpin to stand.

"Come in" he said and the doors opened to reveal Ruby waiting to come in.

"Sorry it took so long. Someone accidently hit all the buttons on elevator on the way up here… It wasn't me." Andrew sighed as he was still walking towards the desk and didn't look at Ruby when she spoke meaning he wasn't sure if it was the truth or not. He could take an educated guess though. During this time, the others had continued talking with Ozpin asking her how she was, she answered just as Andrew turned around.

"Erm... O.K. I guess. I'd feel better if my bad guy catching record wasn't 0 for 3." His face much have revealed his mood as when Ruby saw that he wasn't amused she realised what this meeting was all about. Ironwood then began praising her actions which Andrew wished he hadn't as she didn't need her ego inflating anymore. Once he was finished Andrew added.

"Yeah, she's not bad for a huntress in training. The real question is why did she have to bail out your trained professional soldiers in the first place?" It had the desired effect as Ironwood turned his head to glare at Andrew who half smiled right back at him. Andrew also noted that Ruby was looking at him to as though she was happy about something which he couldn't quite make out.

"That is something we shall discuss another time Professor Tinman." Said Ozpin in a tone telling Andrew to drop it for now which he complied. He remained quiet as Ozpin and Glynda questioned Ruby and she explained what happen in the CCT tower, taking in the information, and trying to discern the attackers motive. As everyone spoke Andrew suddenly latched onto Ruby mentioning Torchwick and the White Fang's possible connection to this incident.

 _Don't say anything_ he thought trying to mentally project his thoughts into Ozpin's head. Now that he knew of team RWBY's involvement in the incident of the highway with the stolen Mech unit, he was aware that they were trying to do some investigating of their own. All be it not as subtle as they should be, never mind the fact that they shouldn't have been doing it at all.

"It's possible." Ozpin added much to Andrew's annoyance but he did also state "But we still lack the required evidence to link the two together." Much to Andrew's relief as he hopped it would be enough to dissuade Ruby from doing anything stupid. Until she said

"Actually, I think I remember her say something about a hideout or something, in the south east just outside the kingdom." Andrew's eye flashed blue but only at the start, this confused him because this meant that part of what she said was true.

Before he could register a thought on this, Ozpin rushed Ruby out of his office and left only the four of them to discuss what this could all mean. As usual Ironwood choose to take this information at face value and was going to order all his troops to invade the south east.

 _Jackass_ Andrew thought to himself, it was like there were only two ways Ironwood could operate. Go in guns blazing or standing around waiting to go in guns blazing.

"Why must your answer to everything involve a triumphant display of military bravado. You treat every situation like it's a contest of measuring di…" Ozpin cut her off before she could finish, all the same Andrew couldn't help but laugh at what she was about to say. The look Ozpin gave Andrew wiped the smile off his face and he decided that if everyone was going to be like this with him then he was just stay quiet an listen to them argue instead.

Once their meeting was over Andrew started heading over towards the elevator but Ozpin suddenly asked

"Andrew, could I speak to you for a minute?" Andrew paused briefly and began to turn around to face Ozpin. He nodded and then waited for Glynda and Ironwood to leave the room, once the elevator door closed he watched as Ozpin slowly poured himself a coffee. It seemed that he was unaware that Andrew was still in the room.

"You wanted to speak to me professor?" Andrew said as he walked closer to the desk.

"Indeed, I wanted to ask you something." Ozpin replied as he finished making himself a coffee and sat up right in his chair. "I wanted to ask you a question." Andrew gestured for him to continue. "Your cybernetic eye is still fitted with the high-end scanner is it not" Andrew Nodded

"Yes, the only thing I need to keep upgrading."

"And if I'm mistaken it can also function as a lie detector by scanning a person's brain while they are talking? True"

"Yes…. where are you going with this?" Ozpin stood up with his coffee in hand.

"Was Ruby lying when she told us about the hideout in the southeast?" Andrew shifted on his feet

"Yes and no"

"How so?" Ozpin questioned

"Well she was lying that she heard it from the intruder in the coms tower but I think she was telling the truth about the hideout itself. Well she believes it enough that to her it is true." Ozpin took a sip from his cup and walked towards his window, looking out over the main courtyard.

"I was afraid that would be the case, this raises questions about where she really heard it from." Andrew had a feeling he knew but had given his word that without any evidence he wouldn't say what the girls of team RWBY had been up to.

"I'm not really sure myself but the fact that it might be true does warrant investigation." Ozpin now turned around to face him.

"Indeed, but why did you not say anything while Glynda and James were in the room?" Andrew tried to face away from Ozpin. "Andrew?" Ozpin continued to question. In an instant Andrew turned to face him.

"You know damn well why!" Anger fill his voice and covered his face which only served to annoy Ozpin. Shaking his head, Ozpin returned to his desk.

"You are taking this to an unhealthy level Andrew. Are you that intent on hating him that now you're considering jeopardising this situation just to spite him?" Andrew snorted

"Don't be stupid. I take all of this very seriously, how could I not. I just don't think he should be included. Mark my words, he'll cause more harm than good before this is all over."

"He is a part of this brotherhood and also a close friend of mine. Don't use your past experiences with James to constantly berate him." Andrew span around and waved his hand.

"As I said to him, I'll fight by him when I need to but I'm never going to accept him. He'll always be a jackass." Suddenly there was a thump as Ozpin slammed his mug into his desk.

"He's the reason you can even be around to call him a jackass so don't be so casual when you insult him!" Andrew flung his cybernetic fist around towards Ozpin making him half turn on the spot.

"DON'T EVEN GO THERE!" the bellow Andrew unleashed reverberated from the walls of Ozpin's office amplifying his words. Andrew's cybernetic eye was blood red as his head felt like it was going to burst until he realised who he was shouting at. His eye changed white the moment he noticed forcing him to cover his face with his cybernetic hand. Silence filled the room for a few minutes as Andrew tried to think what he should say to recover.

"I always forget that you're a far more emotional person than you let on. You must understand I don't do this to you as a form of punishment. I'm trying to help you see that we are all working towards upholding peace for all kingdoms, that includes James Ironwood." After hearing these words Andrew sighed

"I'm sorry sir. I didn't mean to shout, especially at you." After this, he began to struggle explaining how he felt about Ironwood without causing him to enter a rage again. While doing this he felt a hand land on his shoulder, Ozpin had move across the room without him aware what was going on. The familiar warm and comforting hand that always seemed to have a way of bringing him back down to a more normal state.

"I know Andrew, you may be a rather shall we say an…... irritated individual who can be stubborn in his views. But you're also a man who puts his heart and soul into everything he does, be that defending the kingdom or training students. It's the reason why I invited you into this inner circle, just remember that the other members feel the same way as you but I understand they may also have awkward traits that make them difficult to work with."

"Yes sir, sorry sir. I can't promise that I won't still call him a jackass on sight but I'll keep it to a minimum if I can."

"I'll take what I can get from you Andrew." Ozpin said as he patted Andrew's shoulder and then walked back to his desk.

"So, what are we going to do about the mystery attacker? Why was she there in the tower? That place should have been protected and it shouldn't have been down to Ruby to clean up that mess." Ozpin laughed a little and took a sip of his coffee as if the pervious conversation was already a memory from long ago. "What's so funny?"

"You. The night we all first met Ruby you wouldn't even give her the time of day. In fact, did you not say I shouldn't accept her in to Beacon? Let her go through Signal first?" Andrew turned his head away leaving he cybernetic part of his face facing Ozpin. "She is a remarkable huntress indeed if she can make you change your mind." This made Andrew swing his head back to Ozpin straight on.

"You're not thinking of making her go through that are you!?" Ozpin sighed as he placed his mug back down on his desk.

"No I am not. At least not her, I have a different candidate in mind for our Gaudian. That is enough for one day Andrew so I will not take up any more of your time. I need to go and prepare the students for their first mission, we shall discus our plans moving forward later when all of us are free."

"Fair enough, I'll speak to you soon sir."

"You know that you do not have to call me sir, we are friends."

"That maybe, but you are still my superior and the man who I will follow for the rest of my life." Ozpin laughed

"Are you sure not for the rest of my life?" Andrew smiled back

"No, I'm pretty sure I'm going first." He said as he banged his cybernetic plates around his abdomen. "I already have one foot in the grave, the robot one is just propping me up till the rest of me follows suit." With that he turned to leave the office.

"Andrew, please stop blaming yourself. You are a far better man that you give yourself credit for." As Andrew reached the elevator and got in he pressed the button to go down and before the door shut he replied with the half-smile that he was capable of.

"No, I'm really not." And the door closed ending the conversation.

As Andrew entered his office, he looked over his timetable for the week, with many of the students out or going out on missions his week it was looking pretty bare. He still had some classes but only here and there so it was a perfect time for him to catch up on his paperwork which made him glimpse at the massive pile of paperwork that remained on his desk that needed to be sorted out. He let out a short sigh

"Bloody paperwork. No matter how much I do it always seems to grow right back." and moved around to his chair, sat down and instantly began to lean back. He just couldn't bring himself to do any of his work but knew if he left it then he would regret it later, especially if Glynda found out for she would give him a harsh lecture followed by a stern look. He then leaned forward and began to work but not at a reasonable pace.

After a while his scroll was alerted by an admin change on the main system server. When he looked over at it he saw that the person in question was Ozpin and he had changed the mission requirements for one of the student jobs that were being given out. Since he was responsible for setting the mission levels and student requirements he was the one all changes went through. On closer examination, it was a small change on one particular mission in the south east allowing first year students to volunteer for it.

"That job shouldn't be given to first year students" he mumbled to himself. Then it hit him with a cold shiver down his spine when he realised what Ozpin was doing. As his head fell backwards he let of a cry of anguish.

"Oh for fuck sake Ozpin really! I hope you've not do what I think you've done!" without missing a beat he shot up from his desk, ran out of his office and towards the main hall where the students where choosing their jobs.

When he arrived, it was already too late as most of the students were leaving as he pushed his way in and over to the mission boards. He let out a growl knowing full well what had happened, the only other person outside of the teaching staff that knew there was a problem with the south east was a certain red themed girl and most likely her team as well. They would be the only team Ozpin would change the parameters for but he was still struggling as to why he would do that.

He had noted that Barty was the supervising hunter on that mission so they would most certainly not be in any real danger. However, the fact they were allowing four young huntresses to go out and fight not only large quantities of grim but also the possibility of armed and dangerous white fang members caused him to wonder what was going on.

"Next time I see him, we'll be having words." Andrew scoffed already knowing that Ozpin would have a perfectly logical reason for this, he just wished that he'd at the very least consulted with him before doing this.

 _Maybe that's why he didn't, he knew I would object and make things difficult_ he thought to himself. Still he wasn't going to let them get away without having a harsh warning about what they'd most likely talked their way into. He left for the landing pads knowing that they would have to go that way and hoped he would see them in passing. As he walked he started thinking about what he would say but nothing came to mind other and some muddled rant about them never listening to him. Suddenly he saw a gathering of students forming around a group of individuals and it wasn't until he got closer to see that he saw team CFVY had finally returned from their mission. He was about to go over and congratulate them but then saw who he was really looking for.

"Ah there you are." An evil half grin appeared on his face and he set off with a determined stride. When he was nearly behind them, Weiss turned around and caught sight of him before he could surprise them.

"Erm, Professor Tinman looks mad." He heard her say as the rest of the team looked round all equally shocked by this presence and temperament.

"I wonder why!" he called out to them, showing that this time he was in no mood for playing any games. Ruby was scared stiff, Blake sighed as though she'd been caught in the act and Yang as usual still had a smile on her face.

"Hay teach, were about to go on our first mission and..."

"I figured that out myself, thank you Miss Xiao Long." Now she wasn't smiling

"It's all O.K. sir, Professor Ozpin approved this so we're not breaking the rules." Weiss said trying to reassure him of their innocence's. Andrew pointed to a more secluded part of the courtyard and gestured his head in that direction and the four girls walked off towards where he pointed.

"Listen, I know exactly what you're up to thanks to Miss Rose. (causing all the girls to stare at her) Obviously so does Professor Ozpin and even though he's the one who allowed this, I'm the one who judged what levels each mission was given. This means I know that this mission isn't something any of you should be going on, you're not even remotely ready for it yet."

"Well we won't know till we try." Blake interjected

"That's not how this works, I'm your teacher and I decide when you're ready. You don't go on missions that are more than you can handle because you think your good enough. Especially when you all think you can perform your own "investigation" while you're there."

"That's not true sir…" before Weiss could finished she stopped herself when Andrew's cybernetic eye went red.

"Don't. Lie. To. Me." Everyone suddenly went quiet before Andrew continued "Don't get me wrong, you've all got skills it just your heads are not in this. I don't want to have to write to your parents the reason why I'm sending their daughters back to them in coffins."

"Wow have that little faith in us teach?" Yang asked

"You all know as well as I do that even the best of hunters can be killed on routine missions. So, huntresses in training going out ill prepared will do even worse."

"Professor Tinman please let us go." Ruby's first words in this conversation were quiet, almost silent but Andrew did look her way waiting for her to continue. "We know that this mission will be tough and we're not going out there thinking it's just another class. We understand what could happen to us out there but it doesn't matter, we're going out there to protect the kingdom and whether you like it or not Ozpin believes we can do this." Using Ozpin on him like that was one way to get what she wanted. He'd already caused enough hassle earlier for him so didn't want to make him more annoyed. She was also right, Ozpin was a far better judge of character than he was so he wouldn't have done this if he wasn't sure they couldn't handle it.

"Convincing Ozpin is one thing but as you've found, I'm a whole different story." Ruby looked defeated so Andrew added "But for the time being I'll defer to his judgment on this matter." They all looked more at ease now and they all gave a sigh of relief. "This doesn't mean I'm happy with this so if any of you do anything to prove him wrong then I'll make what's left of your lives a living hell. Do we understand each other?"

"We'll not let you down sir." Blake said

"Just remember, the hunter that's supervising you is also doing his own investigation and your primary mission is to help him, not the other way around. If I find out from him you've been disappearing from time to time for unexplained reasons while your conduct your own investigation then you may wish you died out there."

"We get it, listen to the hunter, do our job and don't die or you'll be mad…der. Can we go now?" Yang asked so Andrew let his head fall and they took it as a sign they could leave.

"Don't make me regret this, things could get boring without you here. I might even be able to do my job." His half smiled reassured them that he did have some confidence in their abilities and they left him not as tense as when he first caught up to them. As they walked away he heard them discuss who would be the hunter they would be working with.

"I don't know who I feel sorrier for, them or Barty." Andrew laughed as he slowly walked back to his office still not one hundred percent happy with the situation. The day had only just begun and was already making him stressed, on the up side the main source of his stress was leaving for at least a week which made him half smile.

"Barty, definitely Barty." 


	19. Trying to Break my Habit

Andrew couldn't concentrate all day, every time he tried to accomplish anything his thoughts would drift to that of team RWBY. They were once again exactly where they shouldn't be but this time they even had approval from Ozpin to act recklessly. One day this behaviour of theirs was going to land them in a situation that they will not be ready for and it will cost them far more than they know. As he finished one piece of his paper work, which took him much longer than it should have, he grabbed the next and started all over again.

"Dammit." He said as he through his pen at the desk in frustration. How was he ever going to teach them how to be great huntresses if everyone was undermining, he decided that when they get back he would keep them on a much shorter leash to make sure they didn't do anything like this again.

"If they come back." He corrected as he remembered what they were doing, there was no guarantee that they would return even with Barty's supervision. "My team never did anything like this, we always followed the rules of Beacon." He began thinking about his student life at Beacon in hopes of gaining some wisdom or ideas in how to deal with this particular team now. Before he knew it he was drifting off into his head and started daydreaming about the past.

Many years earlier.

The day might only have been half done but luckily for team CULA they had no more classes for the rest of the day so had retired to their room for a while. Chris was sitting at one of the desks looking over the timetable for the semester and making notes on what they as a team would need to do. Lauren was reading one of her books in a position on her bed that didn't look comfortable at all, her legs were up against the wall while she was lying on her back with her head dangling over the edge of the bed. Ulysses was sitting in the middle of the floor tinkering with his E.X.O suit back pack as he always liked doing and Andrew was lying down on his bed with his hands behind his head just enjoying the peace. They had only been a team for just under a month now so were still getting used to each other's quirks and habits. Suddenly Lauren slammed her book close and threw it cross the room.

"Er, I'm bored! There must be something else we can do." Chris span around on his chair to face her

"Well we're not stopping you, you are more than welcome to do what you want." Lauren rolled over so she was now facing the right way up

"Like what? There's nothing to do round here except train or study. Why don't we all go out somewhere and have some fun as a team!" This made Ulysses take note and stop tinkering.

"That would be nice, where were you thinking of going anyway?" Lauren then went deep into thought as she decided what to suggest.

"I can't deny that having some team building time together would be good for us. If we are to be a team for the next couple of years, then we'd better start getting to know one another." Chris said as a matter of fact. He then looked over to Andrew. "What do you say partner? You up for some team building or what?" Andrew sighed then rolled onto his side

"Nah, I'm fine here."

"Well it won't be a team thing unless we all go so how about you at least look like you're going to consider it." Andrew then sat up right

"Look I'm not stopping you from going. In fact, how about all three of you go and I'll stay here, that way you can all go off and be sociable together and leave me to relax in peace." Chris then shot up out of his chair

"Look ass-hole, we're a team and like it or not you're a part of that team so stop being selfish and consider that your team mates might want you to interact occasionally." His voice was only a fraction louder than normal but demonstrated that he was not messing around this time. Andrew just sat there looking right back at him, completely unimpressed.

"Please do not start fighting." Ulysses said as he got to his feet "If Andrew does not want to come with us then we should respect his wishes." Chris looked over to Ulysses

"I'm sorry Ulysses but he's got to understand that he can't just do want ever he wants. He's part of team CULA and he needs to get that through his thick head." Andrew then jumped off his bed and marched over to Chris.

"Hay I agreed to stick with you lot so we can graduate but as soon as this is all over I'm dumping all of you the first chance I get. I don't need any of you but they won't let me be on my own so let's just get through this with the least amount of arguments." Andrew was so close to Chris that their faces were just about touching but Chris was not the type of person to be intimidated so easily. Suddenly Lauren piped up

"Got it! Since you two seem to be having a testosterone competition, why don't we head to arcades and play some games. That way you can vent some of that built-up anger and me and Ulysses can have fun watching.

"No thanks, I've got no time for silly games or spending time with you." Andrew went to return to his bed but Ulysses then spoke up

"I am sorry we have disturbed you Andrew." He was sounding very down like it was all his fault.

"Why are you apologising? He's the one being as ass to all of us!" Chris shouted as he pointed at Andrew

"No, we are causing him stress. If Andrew does not want to come with us, then we should not force it. We are being unreasonable." Lauren now shuffled on her bed and sat up cross legged

"Erm he's being unreasonable. All we wanted him to do was at least come along with us so it looks like we are a team." Ulysses looked at her with a sad look on his face

"But we are a team, all of us together are a team and we should respect our team mates wishes to remain here. Are we not all friends and do not friends respect one another?"

"We three do sure, however sulky over there was built without the means to process feeling's or respect for anyone other than himself." Andrew span around again

"SHUT UP! I'm getting really sick and tired of that nick name! If you don't stop calling me that then I'm going to force you to stop!" Andrew was getting angry now and Lauren could see he wasn't playing around. This time he was generally threatening her.

"Like hell you are! That name suits you perfectly and if you even think about razing a finger against her then I'll put you in the ground! We understand each other!" Now Andrew was focusing his attention towards Chris and was feeling like he was about ready to burst.

"Please everyone stop shouting! Can we just let this all become a bad memory and let our friend relax like he wants to?" suddenly Andrew shifted his attention towards Ulysses and could not contain himself anymore.

"WE ARE NOT FRIENDS YOU DELUDED FUCKWIT! When are you going to get that through your thick glasses and realise that we never were, never are or ever will be! Just leave me alone and get lost will you!" His voice shook the room at the volume he was screaming at, forcing all the other members of his team to be frozen in place as he heavily breathed for a few seconds.

"I…I am sorry." Ulysses finally said and then broke down in tears and ran from the room, Andrew watched him leave and when he turned back around he received a fist to his jaw from Chris. The punch made him shift his head but that was all as his large frame stayed perfectly still. Now Andrew slowly turned his face back to Chris who was fuming in rage but before Andrew could retaliate Lauren flung herself at Chris and held him back.

"Don't he's not worth it! Please just leave him alone if that's what he wants!" Lauren was now crying herself but Chris was still trying to wrestle free from her to punch again. After a few moments, he calmed down. "Please, we have to go after Ulysses! We can't let him suffer for his mistakes!" Chris slowly looked at Lauren and nodded his head. Without any more words said she was out of the room in a flash running after her partner as she called after him. Andrew simply looked at Chris and went to sit down on his bed.

"You are a piece of work" Chris said in a voice dripping with venom. Andrew scoffed and didn't take any more notice of him. "How could you do that to him! He has done nothing but defend you from the moment you both met and you treat him like shit!"

"Well I never asked him to did I" Andrew snapped back

"That's right, he does it because that how he treats his friends." Andrew wasn't looking at Chris but he continued anyway. "You know the rest of us have made other friends here and get on really well. However, when we want to meet up with them outside of classes they say "sure just don't bring Andrew" because none of them can stand you. But Ulysses always defends you, says that your troubled and complicated but deep down you're a caring person you just struggle to show it. I've never seen this person but Ulysses seems to have and to be fair you couldn't ask for a better friend. You didn't deserve him and now he can see that so well done, you've ruined the friendship of the only person in this whole school who ever gave a damn about you."

Once finished Chris then departed the room and went in pursuit of their missing team member. Andrew just sat there, not moving and staring at the floor. He had what he wanted, peace and quiet with all his other team mates gone. As he was about to lie back down on his bed but the words that Chris said were still bouncing around inside his head and he just couldn't quite get them to go away. As he thought increasingly about them he noticed that what Chris said was true. He sat back up and started to recount all the times Ulysses had defended him, even though he never asked him to or ever needed him to. In his life, he had only one person to base his entire social interactions off and that was his father, a man whom he despised with his entire being. For the next ten minutes, he pondered his actions and his words and concluded that even though he had left his father he had unfortunately still brought a part of him to Beacon.

"Ah crap" he said to himself and made one of the biggest decisions of his life. He was going to find Ulysses and try and salvage this mess of his own creation. He forced himself up and almost ran out of the door.

He spent the next hour looking around the campus for Ulysses but to no avail. He didn't know anything about him so wouldn't even begin to think about where he might have run off to but it wasn't going to stop him. He then reached a small garden area of the school he had never been in before and whilst he walked through he could hear some voices.

"Look at this miserable excuse for a trainee hunter. What's wrong? Miss your mummy and daddy?" the person was not familiar to him but the closer he got the more he could hear the sobs and it was defiantly someone he knew.

"Please leave me alone, I do not wish to speak to you." That voice was Ulysses' voice and when Andrew got into view of them he saw that Ulysses was seated on a bench with four other students around him. They were all boys and from Andrew could tell they were all upper-class men.

"Hay if you're a real huntsman then why don't you make us" one of the boys said. Andrew got a little closer to the group and called out.

"Thing is he may not look like a real huntsman but he's working at it and that's why he won't sort you out. Me on the other hand, I'm a bastard so I've got no issues what's so ever in making you clear off." This got the attention of the whole group, Ulysses included. One of the boys moved over to Andrew and had a big smile on his face.

"What's this, someone who thinks they're the new tough guy at school do they. How about you turn around and go back the way you came before we make you." Andrew laughed

"Well I will if you let my team mate go as well but I'm tempted to give you a good beat down to see if I can fix your perception of others." The other boys were now laughing and all walked over to Andrew with one of the new comers pushing his way to the front.

"Listen newbie, you probably don't know who we are, I'm Serge Orvest and I'm the leader of these guys, team SILV. Now you know I think you'd better reconsider your stand point." Andrew just kept on smiling

"I'm supposed to be impressed by you lot. Sorry but that's not happening. So, here's how it's going to work, I'll count to four and give you a chance to walk away unharmed." The boys burst into laughter at this and Serge answered

"Can't you count any higher than four! That all they teach trash like you nowadays?"

"Well I will say five but by then it'll be too late and you will be stent flying about 15 feet backwards into that fountain over there." Serge looked behind himself and at the fountain that he was referring to. He then turned back unimpressed by the threat and Andrew started to count

"One" The boys still laughed at Andrew but he continued none the less "Two"

"He's really going through with this isn't he!" One of the other boys barked

"Don't worry Larry, he's all talk and soon he'll be sorry for messing with us." Serge said as he kept eye contact with Andrew

"Three" and still the boys stood there watching him, laughing as they did.

"I'm going to put you in your place you little runt." Serge hissed

"Four"

"I'm still here and what are you…..." Before Serge could finish Andrew had said five but the sound was drowned out by and enormous clap unlike anything they had ever heard before. Just as Andrew had predicted, Serge was sent flying and landed on his back in the fountain with a gigantic splash. There was a deathly silence as the other three boys looked shocked by what they had just seen with Andrew holding out an outstretched fist followed by him merely looking at them each in turn.

"Who's next?" he asked. This caused all three of them to come charging at him all together. Two of then held his arms while the third ran at him but Andrew flung his right leg up with such force the boy was knock to the stone floor and a loud thud could be heard and a cry of pain as he reached around to his back.

The other two boys then punched Andrew in his gut which did make him flinch so he flung right arm up and sent the boy flying into the air and then down on top of his friend on the floor who cried out in more pain. The boy on Andrew's left went as white as snow as Andrew's free arm came barrelling towards him with the momentum he was still channelling. The fist impacted him right on his nose where by a wet crunch sounded and he grabbed his face with both hands as he fell to the ground whimpering in pain.

Now the boy he flung from his right arm was standing again but was shaken on his feet so Andrew ran and tackled him to the ground forcing him to fall on his friend once again and cause them both pain. Andrew then stood up and looked at the three only to see that Serge was once again coming towards him, soaked to the bone, and readying his fists for a fight.

"You're going to pay for that one." Said Andrew's new opponent. Andrew made a half smile and watched as the boy he tackled tried to get up again so he just slammed his foot into his back and made him cry in pain as well as the boy underneath him.

Serge went into a full run and charged at Andrew whereby he was received by a braced opponent and having little effect on the him. This led to a short fist fight where in Serge swung several punches for none of them to connect or be deafly swatted away by Andrew. Suddenly after a punch that swung too wide Andrew ducked and span round Serge getting him into a lethal sleeper hold that nearly knocked Serge out in seconds. Just before it took full effect Andrew let him go and he simply fell to the floor on his hands and knees gasping for air.

"Had enough?" Andrew asked. Serge just coughed hard several times and looked at his comrades who were all clutching different body parts in pain. Reluctantly he nodded his head in defeat. "Good now take your team and leave, please." Serge gingerly stood up and started pulling his team mates to their feet and once all were standing they left Andrew and Ulysses while nursing their wounds as well as their pride.

"That was the easy part." Andrew said under his breath and turned to see Ulysses had not move since he had arrived but had at least composed himself. Andrew walked over to where he was sitting and stood there, wondering what to do next. Even though this had all been his fault he still couldn't find a way to speak to Ulysses, not until Ulysses gestured to him to sit down which he accepted. Once seated he tried to speak

"Well that team won't be bothering us again." Andrew's comment was met with silence so he knew that Ulysses didn't care about that. After what seemed like an eternity Andrew finally built up the courage to say what he should have said in the first place

"Ulysses…. Look, I'm…. I didn't…... ahh. I'm sorry o.k." Once again Ulysses didn't respond. "Hay anyone home? I am sorry about what I said okay." Still silence and Andrew was starting to become angry again, luckily he had more sense this time round and focused inward as not to upset Ulysses again.

"Why is it that this time you helped me but earlier you did not want to know me?" Ulysses asked still looking away from Andrew.

"Well, it's complicated." When he was met with more quiet he knew he would have to explain. "What I said before, I was mad. I've grown up accustom to the peace and quiet. It always meant that things were okay so when there's noise I associate it with…. Pain. It's one of the reasons I wanted to be on my own, so that I could act like myself and not cause problems like this." Ulysses finally looked at him.

"Noise hurts you? Are your ears sensitive?"

"No that's not what I mean." Andrew sighed and then tried to word his next response carefully. "I have issues with my dad. They run pretty deep and have made me somewhat awkward in normal society. When he spoke, it was always in anger and he always shouted and that was focused squarely at me so when things were quiet I knew that I would be safe. At least for the time being. It's a habit that I have found hard to shake."

"I did not know that you and your father were not on the best of terms."

"Well it's not something I like to broadcast. It's why back in our room I got very vocal, it was the only way I could retaliate to my dad and is another habit that has stuck." Ulysses looked away again and silence fell on the two once more.

"Chris told me that you always stick up for me when you guys are out with your friends. I appreciate that but it's really not necessary. I don't care what anyone else thinks about me." Ulysses looked up but still facing forward

"I will continue to do so Andrew because even if you do not see me as a friend I still see you as such." Andrew was startled to hear that although Ulysses wasn't done yet. "Do you know why I do not like people talking behind your back?" Andrew shook his head. "Because out of everyone in this school you were the first to give me the time of day."

"What?"

"The day we met. After we all got of the transport shuttle, you were the first person who spoke back to me. I tried to talk to everyone else while on the transport but they all ignored me because they could all see what I was. A poor naive boy who had no right being at Beacon. You however spoke back, treated me like an individual regardless of my standing."

"Your standing what are you on about?" Ulysses now looked at him

"I should not be here, I am from a very poor family. My father became quite sickly and could not work so my mother works for all of us. My father, me and my two sisters. Because of this we could not afford to go to school and had to work from an early age. So many people looked down on us as lower class people, little better than rubbish so I never made any friends. I only had my family. Even here they treated me the same but you. You told me your name and offered me your hand, that was more than any other person had done for me in my life. Even afterwards you stayed with me, you saved me in the forest, helped me find my place and became part of my team. Without you I do not think I would have had the confidence to go on here, that is why I defend you. Because you have a heart, it is just lost beneath your cold exterior which I understand more now, never the less you are still the first friend I ever made and I cannot thank you enough for that."

This was something that Andrew had not even considered, the place where Ulysses had come from was not what he thought. He had suffered but in a different way to himself and with one small act that Andrew had not even registered, he had changed the boy before him. Andrew was the one who couldn't look now as he let his face fall to the floor.

"Ulysses, I didn't know about that." He was taken back in his mind to what he had said to him earlier and could see that he was a cruel and selfish person. Someone treated him with nothing but kindness because that person was repaying an unknown kindness in return and he gave him with a mouth of verbal abuse and terrible words. Just like his father.

"Truly I'm sorry. I don't think there's ever going to be enough time to make it up to you." Now he looked back to Ulysses "But I think I can start by helping my friend get back to his old self." He heard Ulysses whimper and then he was in the death grip in the form of a hug. Ulysses was holding on so tight that Andrew couldn't move his right arm and only had his left free with which to try and repay Ulysses. He didn't really know what to do so ended up waving his hand around where Ulysses had latched on to him. Finally, he started to pat him on his head.

"Thank you! A thousand times thank you!" He could hear Ulysses mumble. This was still an unknown situation to him as just like Ulysses he had never had friends before thanks to the way his father had treated him. After a couple of minutes Ulysses let up and detached himself from Andrew and both sat on the bench looking at each other. Ulysses had a goofy smile on his face and when Andrew saw it he started to smile himself, a half smile on the right-hand side of his face.

"Come on Ulysses, we'd better get back to the room and see Lauren and Chris. I have a feeling that they will have a few choice words to say to me."

"Do not worry Andrew. I will explain it to them and I am sure they will understand and nothing else will need to be said." Andrew sighed

"No, this time you won't defend me. I need to do this myself and whatever happens will happen. I wasn't very diplomatic so they're going to need to vent." Ulysses didn't look very happy about this. "I can take it and if everything goes the way I hope then we'll be back to normal in no time." Now Ulysses smiled and gave a quick nod and then stood to his feet.

"Come on then my friend. Let us get this over and done with as soon as possible." A small laugh escaped Andrew's mouth and he stood up as well.

"Damn right, my friend." The two of them then started to walk back to their room, Andrew all the while worried about what would be waiting for him.

When they got back the door was closed nonetheless they could both hear the other two members of their team talking on the other side of the door.

"I will go first. Maybe I can soften them up for you." Andrew looked at Ulysses and was astounded that even after what he had done to him, he still wanted to defend him. _He's not as bad as I first thought he was_. Andrew waved his hand towards the door and Ulysses grabbed the door handle. The voices on the other side of the door stopped as Ulysses opened the door revealing himself to the others.

"Ulysses!" Lauren screamed and ran at him and through her arms around his neck. The force of the charge almost knocked poor Ulysses over but he did manage to hold his ground. Chris then jogged over to him.

"Thank god you're back! Thought you'd left the campus or something!" Chris then pulled both Ulysses and Lauren into a hug however Lauren wouldn't let Ulysses go with either arm. When they all let go Ulysses spoke

"Sorry for causing you to worry so much, it was very inconsiderate of me and I can promise I will not do it again."

"You've got nothing to be sorry for pal, it's that bastard Andrew who should be sorry and if we're lucky enough he's gone for good now. Probably gone to go and ask Ozpin for a change of team or hopefully school." Said Chris not paying any attention to the door way.

"Ah, well that is not quite true." Replied Ulysses as he pointed to the door and it was only then that the others noticed Andrew still standing there. He took this as his que to enter the room being very careful not to do anything to antagonise them any further. As he closed the door he said

"Hi" the word was barely out of his mouth when Lauren's hand came smacking across the left side of his face. He had been expecting as much so he had braced for it but when the second came and then the third, he felt an excruciating pain in his face. He didn't let out any noise although he had shifted his body away to protect his now reddening face, as he did he saw Ulysses about to step in

"No Ulysses, like we talked about. No defence this time. I've got to learn to stand on my own or I'll always rely on you." His smile he gave Ulysses was slightly forced as the pain in his face made it difficult to smile properly. It did its job because he saw his friend stop from getting between him and Lauren who had a face that gave Andrew a chill down his spine.

"Oh that's just the tip of the iceberg! Just you wait when I'm done with you, they will only be able to recognise you through dental records!" she was in a full maddening rage now and swung her hand up but this time in a clenched fist. Andrew closed his eyes and waited for the impact but it never came. When he finally opened his eyes, he saw Chris holding her hand back.

"Trust me Lauren, he deserves it but I think he's trying to make a point so let's see what he has to say." Lauren was still furious but lowered her hand when Chris released it. Now the pair of them just stood there with accusing eyes, waiting for Andrew to speak.

"Thanks." Andrew said and took a deep breath. "I don't deserve that but thanks anyway. Now me and Ulysses have had a bit of a chat and I would like to believe that I've started to make things up to him."

"That will be something if it's true" Lauren snapped

"It is! We have come to a better understanding of each other and now I think we will be firmer friends!" Ulysses said all that with a sense of pride in his voice which made Andrew's throat close up as hearing that made him wish that he could have done that without his outburst. Chris looked directly at Ulysses now.

"Ulysses, if he's forcing you to say that then please tell us. Don't worry about repercussions, I can sort him out if needs be." Ulysses looked shocked that Chris had thought that Andrew had force him to say anything.

"I wouldn't do that." Chris slowly tilted his head to look at his partner only taking a second to see that Andrew was being honest. "You're right about one thing though, I'm a bastard. I've not had much in the way of social interactions and what little I did was… unpleasant. I only saw now that it's me not others who are broken." The two of them were not taking their eyes off him but had relaxed somewhat now.

"Took you this long to realise you're messed up." Lauren said. Andrew took a deep breath again.

"Yeah. Comes from living with a broken bastard. I thought I was different but it turns out I'm just the same." He paused as his head fell leaving him facing the floor. "I want to be a different person, truly I mean it! I just don't know how as no one ever showed me what being normal ever was. Ulysses however isn't willing to give up on me so for him I want to change for the better." Suddenly he fell to the floor at a speed he hadn't really judged properly so the force of the impact hurt his knees although the pain in his face was still more intense.

"Please give me another chance. I want to be better so just give me some time to improve. However, if you don't want me here anymore then I'll do as you hoped and go ask Professor Ozpin if I can leave your team. Choice is yours but no matter what you say I am so sorry for what I have done to you all."

All this time all he had done was try to rid himself of his past and his father, rushing through at a breakneck speed to prove he was a different man. Unfortunately, it was easier said than done as he only had his father to model his own personality after so had acted just like him without even noticing until he treated Ulysses the way his father had treated him. He was disgusted with himself to a point where he thought his dream was just that, a dream out of reach which is forgotten upon waking. He then heard the sound of footsteps coming towards him, only one set.

"I'm glad we can agree on something for once Andrew, you are a bastard." That was it, they had chosen not to hear any other words other than his first line to them. _Well done Andrew, you're cursed to be a monster for life_ he thought to himself and began to pick himself up. As he went to move though, a hand had been extended down to him. Looking up he could see it belonged to his partner.

"However, I am this bastards partner and I can't just dump him so easily when it's clear he's suffering." Andrew took a few seconds to take his partners hand but when he did a half smile appeared on his face. "Okay Andrew, if you're sincere in your offer to change and since Ulysses is giving you a second chance I think we all can." Chris pulled Andrew up so they were all standing again.

"Thanks, I can't change overnight but I'll try my best to be a normal person. Just give me some time to prove it." When Andrew was level with them he then felt another slap across his face, this time on his right but not as hard as the others.

"Ow, I said I was sorry didn't I!" Lauren's face was not mad anymore, it was almost sad now.

"Just had to get one more hit on you before you change, might not what to hit the improved you as much as I want to hit this you."

"Well that was clear as mud." Chris joked and patted Andrew on the shoulder. "Now that we've put that behind us, I say we go with Lauren's first plan and head on out. Still got the rest of the day and I think a team trip out will be just what we need to start over. Now we can be the true team CULA." Ulysses and Lauren made a cheer and went to grab their things. Chris faced Andrew who was rubbing his face but still with a half-smile. "That O.K. with you now partner?" he asked

"Sounds like a good place as any to start making amends."

"Amends? Don't know what you're talking about. We're just taking you along to pay for all the games." Chris only kept his serious face for an instant before he chuckled and went for the door. Lauren rushed by Andrew to be the first one to leave dragging Ulysses behind her. Chris laughed again and looked back at Andrew.

"Come on then." His voice just as warm and friendly as it had been earlier that day as he walked out the door. Andrew left the room a few seconds behind him still smiling.

"Right behind you."


	20. Attacking and Defending

"Alright maybe my own personal student life isn't the best source for good behaviour. Can't let them think I approve of betting up other students." With that Andrew felt like he had lost any high ground on the girls for he wasn't really known for following rules at Beacon. Ulysses on the other had was always a model student was would make a much better teacher than him.

After realising he hadn't done any work for the past half an hour he decided to get up and go get some coffee to wake him up and get him some more energy to do his paperwork. On his way to the break room he was still in a mind of his own wondering what the next week would bring, so much so that when he entered the room he was oblivious to Glynda speaking to him.

"Hello? Andrew are you alight?" she asked

"What? Oh sorry Glynda, I'm not myself at the moment." He replied as he grabbed a mug and started to boil the water for his coffee.

"I can see that. You're not feeling rough right now are you?" her tone was that of concern.

"I'm fine thanks, well in myself. I'm just wondering about something." Glynda took a sip of her drink

"Team RWBY?" Andrew span round to look at her. He was going to ask how she knew until he remembered that Ozpin was involved in their current escapade.

"Is it wrong for me to be worried about underage huntresses fighting in a dangerous area with next to no real combat experience?"

"They have attended combat schools or proved themselves in the entrance exam."

"That's all child's play compared to the real world."

"And they are well aware of that. Come on Andrew, you of all people should know that they're prepared for this." Andrew scoffed

"They're letting their ego's get to their heads. I'm just hopping Barty can keep them in line." Glynda started laughing. "Something funny?"

"I've just noticed something about you."

"Oh, really what?" he asked with curiosity.

"Women. You always have a problem with women, especially huntresses."

"What? Where did you get that from?"

"I just seem to remember a certain young woman who used to give you a lot of hassle. She had about the same amount of training as everyone else you've taught and she always kept you in place. Strong and skilled, might even say she had one up on you in a fight. Didn't she?" the last part being said as Glynda took another sip of coffee to hide the smug grin forming on her face. She didn't need to hide it though.

"Ah…. yes. Her."

Many years earlier.

As all the students sat in the upper arena of the sparing circle and watching a pair of students fight each other. Team CULA where all sitting together, Chris giving the match his undivided attention with Ulysses next to him making notes on the fight. Andrew was fazing in and out of the fight as when watching it he couldn't help but notice how the current combatants were not as skilled as he thought they would be.

"Boring you, are they?" Asked Lauren which snapped Andrew back into the room fully.

"I guess. If we're supposed to be learning something from this then I'm definitely not." Lauren shook her head

"You won't know unless you're paying attention. Come on Andrew, at least look like you're interested." He looked at the fight which hadn't really changed much and then slouched back in his seat.

"I'm pretty sure I'm missing nothing from these pair. I could beat them both easily."

"Over confident much."

"It's true though. I may have people problems but fighting, that's something I've got sussed." Lauren turned away from him and continued watching the fight which only lasted a couple of minutes. When it was over the sparing teacher walked into the middle of the arena.

"Very well executed, now are there any volunteers for the next match or shall I select some people myself." Almost instantly Lauren jumped up

"Oh me! I'll go!" The teacher looked impressed with her eagerness

"Good start so who's going to fight you then?"

"Sir, can I request an opponent?"

"You can if you want to Miss Tornade, who do you have in mind?" Lauren gave an evil smile

"I would like to fight him." After a couple of seconds Andrew realised she was pointing at him.

"You want to fight your…... team mate?" The teacher asked

"Yes indeedy!" her voice sounded excited by this prospect.

"Are you O.K with this Mr Tinman?" Andrew looked at the teacher and then at Lauren who was still smiling as if she had been waiting for this chance. Andrew gave a cocky smile back at her

"Yeah, let's do this." Now Ulysses spoke up

"Are you two seriously considering this? It is not appropriate for team mates to fight each other."

"Don't worry Ulysses, I'm going to be fine. Him on the other hand I can't promise anything." As Andrew got to his feet the pair of them then walked down to the arena and collected their weapons. Once they were in the sparing zone, Andrew began to spin his axe around one hand in a way he had practiced over the years while Lauren was stretching her legs out ready for the fight.

"Combatants ready. Begin" After that the match had started. Andrew began a casual walk towards Lauren and was about to give her a chance to reconsider but she was in a full speed charge heading towards him. Before Andrew knew what was going on she was within striking range and only through a timely step back did he avoid the first blow coming from her right leg. As he steadied himself, he then swung his axe down on her but she was too quick and was already out of place and activated her boot blades.

She then burst forth with a flurry of kicks and Andrew only survived the attack bay encasing his left arm in a barrier and create a shield. Now he had a defence he started his own attack by pushing forward so Lauren didn't have the space to kick her legs out with enough force. After she stopped attacking, Andrew swung his axe forward again but in a horizontal motion and reaching out as far as he could. She simple jumped over the attack and then sent a kick out landing it in Andrew's exposed right shoulder but to no avail as the larger armour plate absorbed the majority of the impact. He did stumble back to reassure his footing however.

Now they both stood facing each other barely a few feet apart, Andrew knew that he was stronger than Lauren but she was nimbler as well as being quicker. He decided the best way to win was to limit her movement and space to attack from so he increased the size of his shield barrier and charged her with it. Lauren ran to her right side to avoid the charge although at the last moment notice the barriers shimmer being much larger causing her to rethink her strategy so instead ran back towards the wall behind her. Andrew kept on charging until she was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"Got you!" he shouted and went to move forward again only to see Lauren give a toothy grin and leap off the wall onto his barrier and then leap from that back to the wall quickly going up until she was over the barrier. She landed behind Andrew and because he had made his shield barrier so large he couldn't turn without shrinking it first. She made one kick into the square of his back but only got the one hit as Andrew collapsed his barrier entirely and swung with his axe, clanging with Lauren's other boot blade. Now Andrew swung his blade with his full force which Lauren couldn't block against just because his strength would send her flying back regardless. The blows connected creating a loud clash of steel on steel and as Andrew knew, Lauren was sent hurtling back. She managed to recapture her composer before she was too far gone to recover for as she did Andrew was already on top of her again with another attack. He kept swinging his axe in different directions hoping to connect with one of them but she always seemed to know which way to dodge an avoid it.

Andrew had then had enough so channelled his semblance into his axe, the green crystal dust absorbing it until his hand was shaking trying to contain the power. After he had held it for about ten seconds he unleashed the barrier shockwave, the wave stretched out in a crescent moon shape getting larger as it went further out. It hit Lauren and she was then caught up in the wave and had no choice but to go along for the ride, only stopping when she smacked the wall behind her.

Andrew's shockwave had created a steam cloud as a side effect so he couldn't see anywhere the wave had been. He stood there, bent over, and panting so heavily that no matter how much air he breathed in it just wasn't enough to refill his lungs. Finally, he could stand again thinking he won the match when out of the mist, Lauren came charging out. He was so exhausted from his attack that he didn't have the time to respond to the new threat. Just before she booted him in the face an alarm went off signalling the end of the match by time limit.

"I think you're both done there students" said the teacher "I don't think the arena could handle another wave like that." Andrew looked around, still breathing quite deeply only to see Lauren standing in the same position and her foot far too close to his face. She then chuckled and lowered her leg and walked away confident in the fact that the fight was hers. The rest of the class were all in a heighten state after witnessing that but Andrew couldn't focus on anything as he was still trying to build up his energy from the fight.

"What the hell was that?" he said under his breath wondering how Lauren managed to avoid his last attack. It should have forced her to use up her aura to defend against it and won him the match but instead she was seconds away from defeating him. After he had walked of the arena, Chris was there to meet him.

"Nice try Andrew but I think Lauren got you there."

"I…would…have…won." Andrew tried to reply but still couldn't seem to get his breath back

"Not in a tournament match you would of. It's the first to depleted aura and by the looks of it I think you used up all of yours and then some. That last attack you made was a little overkill don't you think?"

"Evidently not. She somehow…. blocked it or…...dodged it. I don't know." He then took another step forward but he was far weaker than the realised as his legs gave way. Fortunately, Chris caught him before he fell and propped him up with his shoulder.

"Thanks, I'm feeling really hungry right now." Chris sighed and they both started to walk together.

"Better get you something to eat. Just a word of advice though, if you're planning on doing that move again make sure you can walk away from it." Andrew nodded without even realising he was doing it as it was an almost reflexive response. That was the last thing he remembered before he blacked out completely.

Andrew woke up flat out in his bed still wearing his hunters outfit. From the light that was coming through the window to their room he could tell it was late afternoon or early evening. After stretching his arms and feeling his joints crack he then rolled over so he was sitting on the side of his bed. It was then he noticed he wasn't alone in the room, Ulysses was sitting at his desk looking over his scroll at something Andrew couldn't make out at this distance. Taking a deep breath, he then spoke.

"How long was I out?" This made Ulysses jump and spin his chair around to face Andrew

"Evening Andrew! How are you feeling now?" he sounded very concerned

"Like something tried to suck the life out of me. What time is it? Actually, what day is it?"

"It is 17:33 and it is still the same day. Chris called me and Lauren to help bring you back to the room when you passed out after the sparing match. You have been asleep for a couple of hours; do you want me to get you anything?" Andrew ran his hands over his head and through his hair

"I drink would be nice." Ulysses span around in his chair and grabbed a glass of water that was sitting there. He then rushed it over to Andrew while he was still seated in his chair. Andrew took it with a nod and down the glass in one

"Thanks, I'm pretty sure my throat had turned into sand paper." He then looked around the room again now he was a bit more alert. "Where's Chris and Lauren?" He asked

"After we dropped you off here Chris thought we should give you some time to rest so he went to do some studying in the library and Lauren went to get something to eat. I wanted to stay to make sure that if anything happened I could be here to assist you." Andrew nodded again and put his head in his hands.

"Thanks for the concern. I'm all right, really. That match just took it out of me."

"When we were in the forest you did not pass out after fighting and when you beat team SILV you looked as though you could keep going for hours. What caused you to faint? Was it your semblance?" Andrew looked up

"Yeah, I used it a bit recklessly and paid the price. Don't worry, I'll be more careful in future."

"Was that truly necessary in a practice sparing match against a fellow team mate?" Andrew looked straight at Ulysses and could tell that he was making him uncomfortable

"I'm not getting back at her for the slaps to the face. I deserved that and I've moved on. Don't worry about us having a go at each other, it was a sparring match nothing more."

"Why did she want to fight you then?"

"Good question, maybe it's the way how she has fun." Ulysses shook his head

"I do not believe that to be the case. You may think she is slightly unusual from time to time but I doubt that she would want to fight you because she was bored." Andrew sighed and realised that Ulysses had a valid point, she wouldn't pick a fight with him even if she was bored so the question is why did she want to fight him.

"Go and get something to eat, knowing you I bet you've not even had anything to eat yet. I'll be fine now." He could see Ulysses was unsure about this. "I'm fine, seriously. Please I don't want you getting ill because of me."

"Very well. Do you want me to get you something?" Andrew smiled

"No. Thank you but no. I'm just going to sleep and build up my energy."

"O.K, as long as you are sure you are fine." Once again Andrew smiled and nodded his head.

"Yes. Go on, before they close up the canteen." With that Ulysses stood up, patted Andrew on the shoulder and then left the room but not without a quick glance back. The response Andrew gave him was a smile and pointing his finger in the direction of the canteen.

Once he was gone, Andrew waited a couple of minutes and then got up and left the room. He wanted to have a walk and get some fresh air, he had only ever done this move a couple of times and this was the worse side effect. At least this time he had someone to pick him up, last time the only person who could have done anything was his dad. Just the thought of that made him angry which is why he needed the walk, it was the only way that he found that would effectively calm him down.

Once he was outside he started to walk around the campus, he'd looked around at the buildings and the foliage. This was nothing like the port town he had come from, it was far more spacious, greener and in a single word beautiful. Suddenly he found himself at a bench that over looked a Cliff-side view of the city of Vale.

"Wow" he whispered as he slowly sat down on the bench and looked out into the distance. While he was sitting there staring out he started to lose track of time.

"I never took you for a lover of nice views sulky." Andrew shot round at his hated nickname being used.

"Come on! I'm getting better so doesn't that mean you can drop that name now"

"Maybe, how about snoozy instead then? After your nap today when we finished our fight I know you can sleep through anything. Me and Ulysses were shouting at you for about 15 minutes and you never even flinched. You sure you should be out here?" Andrew turned back to the view

"O.K out of sulky and snoozy, I'll take sulky. At least I'm sort of getting use to that."

"Fair enough sulky!" Lauren said as she sat down next to him while he grimaced at that name. They then both sat there for a short while, looking out over the cliff side.

"I know it's not unusual for you to be quiet but you're REALLY quiet."

"I just like to enjoy the view."

"Again, is it wrong that I think it's weird you like doing this." Andrew scoffed but smiled

"Is it because I'm the bastard of the team. The one who's insensitive and cold. Sorry to disappoint you but I'm the type of person who likes nice views, long walks, and quiet nights. They help me feel better." Lauren turned her head to look at him and chuckled.

"I've just learned something else new about you today." Andrew laughed

"What else did you learn about me?" Lauren leaned back on the bench and put her arms behind her head all the while still smiling.

"Well for starters your semblance isn't as straight forward as anyone would think. You're not creating a barrier, you're using your own aura's protective field and projecting it out. They're strong and you can even move them or expand them but it leaves you vulnerable so you go head on into a fight leaving your opponent with only one way to fight you, face to face. As soon as I kicked your shoulder plate I could tell you had no aura around it, you made a bigger barrier and lost more aura so I took a chance and got behind you and I was proved right when my boot connected with your back." Andrew slowly turned to face Lauren with a surprise smile, he couldn't believe she figured that out from only a few minutes of fighting.

"You must have known that before fighting me. You must have, didn't you?"

"Nope. You don't talk about yourself very much. I had to fight you just so I could understand you."

"Is that how you get to know everyone you meet?"

"Nope again. Ulysses was nice enough you talk to me and Chris being team leader actually likes to know his team mates and for them to know him. You on the over hand hardly talk and when you do it's about stuff that doesn't mean anything, I just wanted to know something else about you other than you are weird and sulky."

"You're right, I don't talk about myself. Not because I'm being an ass, I just hate my past." He sighed and looked out over the city. "Why do you really want to know me?" There was a silence that past between them, only the breeze could be heard as it whistled through nearby trees.

"We're team mates, I thought that would be enough. I heard when you formed teams here that they become your family." Andrew heard something in her voice, it wasn't the usual upbeat but a more sense of longing.

"Family. Don't you already have one?" he asked as she looked straight at the floor before she continued.

"Yeah, once. Mum, dad, and an older brother. Then a bandit group came through my village and killed them along with almost everyone else. They saw me and thought I would be useful to them."

"Useful?" Andrew inquired only for Lauren snapped up and look him right in the face, her own was a mask of disgusts which suddenly revealed to him what the bandits had in mind. "I'm sorry, I didn't know." He felt like a real ass now. "How old were you when all this…. Happened."

"15"

"This was two years ago?!" Lauren went quiet

"Just over actually. Worse time of my life." She was sounding as though she had a bad weekend and that's all it was.

"How can you be like this? Something like that would destroy a normal person but you act like nothing happened! How?!" Lauren was smiling again, her casual look back at Andrew made him wonder even more what was going on in her head.

"It did, for seven months I was their play thing. Tossed from one to the next for them to have their fun. As I said worse time of my life." Before Andrew could say another word, she continued. "Just as I was about resign myself to this fate, I was saved by a hunter. He found the bandits, killed them, and set me free but I wanted to end it all and be with my family again. The hunter wouldn't let me and instead took me in, taught me how to defend myself and finally made me want to live again."

"But all those memories, there still there. It all still happened. You can't simply have let it all go?"

"Yes, I can. It all happened but I can't change it, it's all in my past. I acknowledge it and I have moved on from it and made a vow that it will never happen again. To me or anyone else I can save."

"You are unbelievably optimistic." Andrew sighed, he wished he had that way of thinking. She had been through something far worse than he had but still saw the world in a good light without the darkness weighing it down.

"I was saved by that hunter, he took me off that dark road and helped me come back to myself." She paused and then put her hand on his thigh.

"Why tell me this? I mean I am sorry what happened to you but you don't need me to get over it, you're well-adjusted and have your life back."

"I'm not the one who needs saving." Andrew looked at her

"Excuse me?"

"Ulysses told me that you have a problem with your past and seeing as you never talk about any family I think I can make a good guess as to what happened."

"O.K he had no right telling you that."

"I forced it out of him."

"I can believe that." He sighed "My problems are just that, mine. You have far worse memories than mine so I have no problems in comparison." Lauren smiled and made a small laugh

"I was trapped in a bad place for several months and was saved by one of the most important people in my life. You were trapped in a bad place for what must have been near enough 17 years and you have not been saved yet. You're still trapped there in your mind so let us help you move on properly, you don't have to do this alone." Andrew felt his eyes begin to water.

"Why do you all care, not too long ago you all wanted to be shot of me."

"You said you wanted to change for the better, one thing I can say about you is that your honest. When we first met you, you were a real bastard but an honest one and after that fight with Ulysses you said you would change. I now know that you had a reason to behave the way you did, didn't excuse you though just made me see that it wasn't because you like being that way. Now I want to help you, save you."

"Am I worth saving, personally I think it would be a waste for you."

"I lost my family, you wish to escape yours. Together maybe we could find a new family." She never changed her face but she started to tear up. "I think your worth saving because I thought I wasn't. He gave me back my life and I want to help you get yours back." They both smiled at each other and a few tears escaped their eyes but neither one moved. Finally, Andrew said in a wheeze

"Thanks." He took a deep breath. "Can we start in the morning, I just want to get some rest first. So, shall we go home?" Lauren suddenly had a silly smile on her face and laughed for several seconds.

"Yeah, home sounds good."


	21. Through all my Pain

With a sigh Andrew conceded the point.

"Okay, I'll admit that some people can already handle themselves to some extent but using her as an example was a low blow." Glynda smiled but there was some sadness in her eyes as she knew using his team against him was harsh move.

"I just wanted you to remember that there are some students who are much stronger than they let on so don't count them out before they've even had a chance to prove you otherwise."

"Alright, I get it. I'm still their teacher though so I do have some right to be worried about them passing this test."

"You're acting more like a farther then a teacher." The words were out of her mouth before she realised and she quickly put her hands over her face. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to…" Andrew cut her off by quickly raising his hand

"I know." His head began to swim in unwanted memories and he force his eye closed and pushed them back to where they belong. Glynda was about to stand up so before she got to her feet he went for the door.

"Andrew, it's okay I'll leave. I've finished my break so you can…." Once again, he cut her off by raising his hand.

"I'm done here too. See you later Glynda." His voice was flat and monotone with no hint of emotion behind it. He continued walking and was relieved that she didn't follow him, he knew she meant no malicious intent in her words but hearing them aloud unhinged his mind. He didn't want to ever be a farther figure to anyone believing his past experiences with them gave him nothing to work with.

"How did it go from no one knowing to everyone and their mothers having the whole story." He said to himself. "Sometimes I wish I never said anything…. But as he's always right about everything, he was right about that too."

Years earlier.

The gym was quiet, only a few students were in there and Andrew was busy letting out his built-up frustrations on a punching bag. The sound of his fists hitting the leather of the bag louder than it needed to be. He was confused, ever since his outburst in his teams room a couple of weeks ago, he had been making amends to them. Ulysses had excepted him and hadn't changed his opinion of him, Lauren had had a chat with him and told him something very personal in an attempt to help him open up.

"Why can't I be a normal person for once!" he sped up his punches and didn't notice the pain slowly building up in his hands. They all wanted to help him but he found it so difficult to talk about it, he never wanted to experience his past again but without context to his life before they couldn't understand why it was problematic for him to explain.

Eventually he stopped attacking the bag and held onto it. He could feel the sweat pour off his head and face so just waited there for a moment while he got his breath back. He was wearing his only casual clothes he had, a plain grey t-shirt and a pair of black work out pants with two white strips down the outside of each leg. Suddenly he heard footsteps coming towards him and thought it was someone wanting to use the punching bag. He pushed himself off to see Chris standing before him wearing a more colourful shirt with some kind of creature on it he didn't know and a towel around his neck.

"Hi Andrew, how you doing? Worn yourself out yet?" Andrew took a deep breath

"Not yet, still got some energy in me."

"In that case, do you mind if I work out with you? It helps me to have a partner, makes me work harder. I make it a competition." Andrew reluctantly nodded

"Sure. Anything in mind?" Chris pointed towards the treadmills and Andrew gave an approving nod.

Once they were set on the machines they began, Chris starting at a steady jogging pace while Andrew was only walking as he hadn't done much leg training this session.

"You're not giving me much competition. You sure you want to do this?" Andrew looked over to his partner and then back to his machine and upped the speed to match. He didn't want to but he felt as though he couldn't back down from this challenge. After 10 minutes of jogging, Chris increased his speed so Andrew followed suit. After another 10 minutes Chris lowered his speed but Andrew kept his the same.

"Not a good idea to go all out. Especially if you're not prepared for it. Best to build it up slowly."

"I've done worse, trust me."

"That's the thing, I don't. Well not really. I hardly know you. None of us do." Andrew hit the stop button on his treadmill and put his hands on the side bars.

"First Lauren now you. I know you want to help me but let me deal with this in my own time." Chris stopped his treadmill but at a more gradual pace.

"Lauren told me about your chat. She also told me about how you reacted and that it's not a simple fix. I can understand that but if you don't start trusting us to help you then we'll never be able to. We want to help you." Andrew got off the treadmill and walked away, Chris followed him noting that he wasn't moving at a pace that meant he was trying to lose him, he just wanted to change the location.

They went to the far end of the gym where there were some sparing mats that were supposed to be used for supervised hand to hand lessons. Andrew stopped

"As I told her, it's not easy for me. You have to understand that, please." Chris gave him a warm smile and then remembered that Lauren told him that Andrew did open up a bit after their fight so had an idea.

"Tell you what then, instead of a foot race how about a friendly sparing match?" Andrew looked confused for a moment then shrugged

"Sure, bet you've been wanting to punch me for some time so let's get this out of the way." Chris slapped him on the shoulder and walked onto the mat while taking his shirt off whereas Andrew kept his on.

"Take your shirt off, it'll be better if you did."

"I'm good." Was all he replied in a tone that told Chris to drop it. They then both bowed to each other and then went into a fighting stance. With a flash, they started fighting, Chris using his tiger style martial art and Andrew sticking to his unique boxing. While they were fighting, Chris tried to talk to Andrew.

"Your good at fighting. Where did you learn, what school?" Andrew grunted

"None, picked this up back home."

"Really where's that?" Andrew was more focused on the fight so waited till one of them won a point before continuing. After he won the round he said

"Port town of Rock's Rest. Learnt it from a fighting pit champion." They then started the next round.

"Interesting. Never heard of a fighting pit. I was taught at Signal, like most people here but it shows that you can learn to fight anywhere." Andrew grunted again so Chris continued. "What's this fighting pit then, a training dojo or something?"

"It was a pit, you fight in it. You either win or you get the shit beaten out of you." Chris stepped back from the fight.

"What? Are you serious?" Andrew lunged in to continue the fight.

"Sorry but that's the truth. What's wrong school boy? Didn't think there was anything barbaric like that anywhere in Remnant." Andrew thought he had the upper hand until Chris landed a decisive point so he backed off to start the next round.

"It's just surprising that's all. Guessing that your home town doesn't follow the kingdoms rules so closely."

"It's why it's there." They then started fighting again and Chris was surprised how much he was getting out of Andrew through fighting so he asked another question.

"Was the pit champion your father?" an innocent question but one with a terrible back lash as Andrew sent a punch flying at Chris' face which he only just dodged and from the force of the air he felt from it, he could have lost a few teeth.

"What the hell! No blows above the neck jackass." Andrew looked as though there was an evil aura coming from him.

"Shut up!" Andrew shouted

"What? I was just asking."

"Well don't!" Andrew then turned away from the fight and went to walk away. Chris was annoyed because he was starting to know who his partner was at long last but all his progress was for nothing now.

"Look I'm sorry if I said something wrong but if you don't talk to me then how am I supposed to know."

"You know damn well that's not a good subject for me. Lauren told me that Ulysses had spoken to you both about my chat with him so you know that my father is a sore subject."

"All I knew was that you had problems at home and your father was a main part of that. I mean it I'm sorry, I'm just trying to find out something about you." Andrew stopped

"You don't want to know, trust me."

"There you go again, trust me! How can I trust you when I don't know you!"

"I don't know you either so we're even." Chris was determined to get Andrew to talk so decided to tell him about his dad instead.

"Fine then I'll go first. My name is Chris Lionheart, son of professor Lionheart at Haven academy and if you think you had daddy issues then you're not the only one!" Andrew turned so slowly that Chris became nervous as to what would greet him. Andrew's face showed ill-disguised contempt for what he was about to say but he was standing still and was waiting for him to continue.

"My family comes from a very long line of hunters, right back to when they were founded after the great war. We made a vow to the king of Vale that as long as we remain we will honour the hunter's oath. As a tradition, the eldest child of each generation would become a hunter."

"Wow, so your what some kind of nobility or something." Andrew was not impressed

"You could say that."

"So that's why you're here, tradition?"

"I'm here because my older brother died before he could become a hunter." Andrew didn't answer, he did however change his face to something more respectful so Chris carried on. "He was an amazing hunter, attended all the combat schools, honed his skills and was the pinnacle of what a hunter should be. My father was so proud of him that I doubt he even knew he had a second son. Then one day he got sick and just kept getting sicker until a week later he couldn't take a breath and passed away. Right after the funeral, my dad told me that I had to pick up where he left off. To become a hunter and honour our family's oath. Suddenly I was real to him but only because now he needed me, he didn't care one bit about me just our family oath which is now on my shoulders."

Andrew change his look again, his face showing some remorse over the fact that Chris had lost someone just like Lauren. It didn't change the way he felt about Chris' relationship with his father.

"I'm sorry for your loss but it doesn't sound like you have much in the way of dad issues. So what if he made you a hunter, you look quite at home with it."

"Only because I have to be!" Chris snapped back. "I was already living my own life, I wanted to be a musician. He didn't care what I wanted to be before but then I had to take up this oath. But comparing me to my brother, it's easy to see why my father was always disappointed with me. I did everything I could to become a hunter but I was always put up to my brothers standards and I'm no were near as good as he was." Andrew began looking at the floor as he took in several deep breaths.

"You're a disappointment to your dad you say?" the way how Andrew said it sounded as though Chris had hit something.

"That's right, everything my brother did was great. Me, it was always "you can do better". He never treated me as anything more than the spare he had to use because his masterpiece was gone." Andrew stood there silent, unmoving, Chris wasn't even sure he was still breathing. He was about to say something until Andrew took a whimpered breath.

"I would kill to have a father like yours." That was unexpected, Chris didn't think he would say that. His mind began to wonder, if his father was an improvement then what did he come from.

"Are you serious?" Chris replied, Andrew looked angry now

"AM I SERIOUS?!" he yelled and in a flash, he removed his shirt. Chris had no idea why he did that until he saw what it was hiding.

His body was covered in scars, blemishes and other marks that told of unknown punishment that he had endured. There were even marks that looked like burns which made Chris take a breath. All these old injuries were all on his torso and shoulders with it extending down past his waist and he could imagine that there were more on his back as well.

"My god…" he breathed. Andrew was still angry

"Your father was disappointed with you, well mine hated the sight of me!" now things were starting to come together.

"He did all that to you?" again Chris could hardly speak the words

"Every single damn one." There was a pause of silence and then Andrew carried on. "To him, I was a punching bag. Something to take his frustrations out on. Ever since I can remember he has been the source of all my pain, on an almost daily basis I had to receive some kind of a beating. All the time he did it he would yell at me, telling me I was worthless, a mistake and nothing but a retch. When he'd eventually leave me alone, I would lay there in silence just praying to anyone that he wouldn't come back."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Andrew charged up to Chris and grabbed his neck, it wasn't too hard but Chris knew Andrew wasn't going to let him go.

"This maybe difficult for you to understand but I was terrified of him. I was a prisoner there for 15 years and that kind of torture leaves marks on you that go far deeper than what's on the surface. I was afraid that no one would believe me and for drawing attention to it, he would make it worse."

Chris didn't move or try to remove Andrews hand, he just stood there taking in what his partner was saying. It all made sense to him now, why he was the way he was. Andrew had been warped by his father in a way that any social interaction led him to think that he would be attacked. As a defence, he would attack first which explained why his temper was so short and why he didn't want to be a part of a team in the first place. The quiet he coveted so much also came to light as when things were quiet he knew he was safe but when someone spoke it was taking him back there every time, thinking that he would be beaten. His mind was broken and Andrew was right, he couldn't even begin to imagine what that was like.

"I'm sorry, if I'd known I wouldn't have made you relive this." He was completely sincere in what he said and Andrew picked up on it and slowly released his grip on Chris' neck. Andrew wasn't even aware he was doing it, it was an instinctive response to him. Once again, he realised he was still trapped in the nightmare of his past. Andrew turned to walk away and picked up his shirt but then felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't leave. Come on let's go and find somewhere to sit down." Andrew took a while to respond but did nod eventually with a single nod. Chris then grabbed his shirts and they both left the gym, once they were outside they went to a small sitting area which functioned as a café area but being late there was no one there. They both sat down at one of the tables as Andrew put his shirt back on.

"I can see why people make you uncomfortable. With your only human interaction being that it's not hard to see why you are the man you are. Wasn't there anyone else you could go to? Speak with?"

"It was a small town and the people there all had similar characteristics."

"What about the pit fighter?" Andrew rested his head in his hands before he answered.

"He was not a friend in any stretch of the imagination. Just the man who taught me how to fight. I only entered the arena in a desperate attempt to commit suicide." Chris took a deep breath at this omission.

"My god." Andrew didn't move or respond. "But you didn't die. I'm guessing you decided to fight back?"

"Only because I was too scared to die. I barely got out of that fight in one piece. The pit fighter saw me and said I was pathetic so he taught me how to fight properly."

"He sure did, you can definitely hold your own in a fight."

"I didn't want to fight in the pit but it made me stronger. After that his beatings would have less impact, i hoped."

"So, by inflicting pain on yourself in a controlled manner, the pain you received from him wasn't as bad. That was your logic?"

"It's what I intended but it acted more like the other way around. Eventually I started to go numb to it all." Chris looked him over and thought that it wasn't just the pain he became numb to but his humanity as well. All he did was fight, receiving and inflicting pain making him a rather pathetic person to the rest of the world.

"You're here now though. How did you get out of that place?" Andrew paused then answered

"I snapped, couldn't take the beatings from him anymore." There was a tremble in his voice as he spoke. "I fought back and I …. Almost beat him to death. A rage took over and I just kept hitting him and hitting him until my hands were bruised and covered in blood." Chris sighed and then said

"It's not your fault, he made you do that. Anyone else would have done the same thing, years of abuse forced you to act."

"I wanted him to just stop."

"What happened afterwards, did anyone find out before you left?"

"I didn't care, I had no feelings for him nor anyone in that place. As soon as I realised what I had done, I left. Grabbed a few things and was gone." Chris leaned back in his seat looking at the man before him, I broken boy in a man's body who even though had escape his tormentor was still suck in a hell of his own minds creation.

"It can't have been easy for you to talk about this and again, I'm sorry. However now I know what I'm going to do with you." Andrew looked up puzzled.

"What?"

"Me, Ulysses and Lauren are going to do what your father never did, what he should have done. We are going to make you the man that you were supposed to be."

"Again what?"

"Everything you suffered, everything you went through. It's over now, from this moment on we are going to help you come back to your humanity. You won't be numb anymore."

"You've all said this to me now. You want to fix me but I don't think it's something that can be done." Chris shook his head

"This is not some idle remark. It's a promise from your teammates, we want to help you. After you chose to change your ways we all made that promise so you'd never be like that again. This team is going to be your new family." Andrew scoffed, not because he didn't believe Chris but that a team could be his family.

"You've all got someone to go back to, once we graduate then I'll be alone again. What's the point of having a family only for it to disappear again?" Chris leaned forward now

"That's never going to happen. We will still be together and always be there for you. As your partner, I can safely say that I'll never abandon you, from here on out we are going to be brothers. I'll carry you all the way if I must but I'm never leaving you behind. Promise."

Chris then offered out his hand to Andrew to seal the promise. Andrew felt strange, the last few weeks had been something he'd never experience. He was with people who he was beginning to care about, even Lauren who still annoyed the hell out of him. Suddenly the words Chris said had some force behind them and he was starting to trust others. If they did care about him then it was something he couldn't understand however he wanted to try. The prospect of a family, even a family of teenagers was enough for him to want it. He reached out his hand wand clasped it in Chris'

"Fair enough, brother." He hardly got the words out before he felt tears well up and wiped his face to stop them. Chris laughed

"It's O.K. to cry tears of happiness if that's what they are."

"I'm sorry, I just don't know what to do in this situation." Chris smiled

"That's what we're here for now Andrew, to help you. No matter what it is." The pair stood up and began their walk back to their room with a renewed respect for each other.

 _Maybe I'll be alright after all_ Andrew thought to himself with the biggest smile on his face, something he never knew he possessed.


	22. What have they done Now

Andrew was back in his office now, sitting at his desk trying to get all his back logged paper work written and filed. He wanted to spend the rest of his day in isolation away from everyone else at the school. Each person he had spoken to today had done something to him to make him either angry or annoyed but not necessarily on purpose.

Ironwood had just made him annoyed by being there, Glynda made him feel depressed by bringing up fathers, Ozpin made him feel like a child because of how he reacted to the situation and team RWBY made him furious by talking their way into a mission they shouldn't have been allowed to do. There was nothing he could do about it now, everything had already been said and done but it didn't help him, he just wanted to disappear from the school this day. Therefore, he remained in his office doing his work because no one would ever think to find him in here.

When it got late enough in the day, he finally dropped his pen and stretched his arms while looking at all he had accomplished. Nearly all his paperwork was now done or very close to being finished.

"That was a productive day, I should do it more often." He said to himself only then noticing that that was the first voice he'd heard in several hours. Turing his neck at an angle caused it to make a satisfying crack he then proceeded to stand. Sitting for so long on his cybernetic leg had made it dig into him and only now did he feel the pain from it.

"Ouch, I'll need to take something for that when I get back to the flat." So, he left his office happy with what he'd mange to achieve this day but pissed at the pain it caused from his leg. "Now Glynda and Ozpin can't have a go at me over that, at least for a few days."

He walked back to his flat without seeing anyone, it was late evening but not too dark yet so most people would already be where they wanted to be. The walk gave him time to think in the fresh air over what these current events might lead to but in so doing this, his memories started to fill his mind again. This time he smacked his head with his cybernetic hand, forcing them back with pain as he had let too many memories come to the surface lately. This could unhinge his mind and cause other much less pleasant memoires over turn his mind and that was something he didn't want, not while there were enemies within the kingdom's walls.

When he was in his room, he poured himself a whiskey and sat in front of the TV, deciding to watch some meaningless programs in order to unwind. It didn't last very long as only an hour later he felt his eyelid begin to get heavy, struggling to stay awake he turned off the TV and went to bed, not even finishing what was left of his drink.

When he awoke the following morning, much earlier than he would have liked, he was thankful for the fact that he manged to have a peaceful and dreamless sleep. This surprised him as after he'd gone through all those emotional states yesterday, his mind was far more vulnerable to unstable breakdowns and if one occurred, he would be useless to anyone. He didn't want to dwell on this so he got up and got dressed so he could go for a walk around the school in the early morning while no one else was around.

As he walked, he was reminded of why he stayed a teacher at Beacon. The scenery was amazing this time of year for he always felt that Beacon looked its best in the fall, the main white school building off set by the burning reds and oranges of the autumn leaves. He spent such a long time on his walk he hadn't noticed how long he had been walking until he saw a group of students walking towards the landing pads. After closer examination with his cybernetic eye he identified them as team JNPR and thought that if he gave team RWBY a send-off then he didn't want them to be left out. When he was closer to them, he called out

"Good morning team JNPR. I trust you're all well?" The whole team turned around to face him and in unison replied

"Good morning Professor Tinman." Then Pyrrha spoke.

"We are all grand thanks. We're just heading off to catch our transport to take us to our first job."

"I see, doing anything interesting." Nora then burst in with enthusiasm.

"We're going to be deputy's!" This was added to by Ren

"The job is to shadow a huntsman's in a nearby village who is their sheriff."

"Really?" Andrew sounded different but the team couldn't quite tell why.

"Is there a problem with that?" Asked Pyrrha to which Andrew half-smiled.

"Not at all. In fact, I commend you for trying something different. Most students choose for their first job a mission that focus on battling Grimm, although that is what's expected of you when you graduate, they fail to see what other kinds of jobs their skill set can be useful for."

"We hope this will be an enlightening experience for us all." Ren said with a bow. It was at this point that Andrew looked towards Jaune who had not said a word thus far.

"Not feeling the thrill for your first mission Mr Arc?" It was only then did he seem to notice what was going on.

"Huh what? Oh no sir that's not it. I got a call this morning and I'm just concerned."

"I see. May I ask who from?"

"Ruby Rose, it cut out before I could answer it and I haven't been able to get in contact with her since." Andrew took a deep breath that was much louder than he wanted it to be because all four students gave him a worried look.

"Professor, are you all right?" Pyrrha asked.

"Not really. But it's nothing that anyone can do anything about at this time."

"We know you weren't that happy about their assignment. They mentioned your disapproval before they left." When Nora spoke, he thought about what he had said to them before they left and just silently hoped that they had heeded his warning.

"You're right, I'm not happy. I'm really not happy at all but I was overruled by Headmaster Ozpin. They are in no more danger than any other student but the reason I'm bothered is that they are not completely focused on their given mission. Which is why I'm glad you all choose something more suitable." He finished talking and gave a look down the line of students. "This is why you are some of my…"

"Favourite students?" Nora interrupted with a wide smile.

"…. More tolerable students is what I was going to say." Andrew gave them a half smile. "I'm sorry to say that I don't have favourite students. If I did, I find that they suddenly stop putting the effort in."

"That won't happen with us sir. We'll make you proud." Pyrrha was confident with her statement so Andrew chuckled as he replied.

"That's a bold declaration Miss Nikos. I'll hold you all to that but fair warning, it's not easy to obtain. Just do your best and when you get back…."

Before he could finish they all heard a large explosion which emanated from the city and not a few seconds later the emergency siren began sounding. Andrew's heart turned to ice as his head began running through every conceivable scenario that could have befallen Vale. Before he could say anything, Jaune was already taking control of his team.

"Okay guys, we're changing our mission. Everyone on board!" The rest of the team then started running.

"Hold on!" Andrew shouted at them causing the team to stop abruptly.

"Sorry sir but you can't stop us. We're going to the city and we're going to help."

"I know. I just wanted you to wait for me!" Andrew shouted and went into a run to catch them up, when he did all five of them then started running towards the transport ship.

"We'll make it to that village another time." Jaune said to Ren who simply replied with a nod. "Take us into the city!" he then called to the pilot. As it took off while all of team JNPR were checking their weapons until Ren asked Andrew

"Professor, don't you need a weapon?"

"I've got mine, never leave home without them." He said as he slammed his cybernetic fist into his left hand. As they got closer to the city Pyrrha asked

"What do you think is happening?" Andrew shrugged

"Not sure. This is a complete surprise." They all looked a little nervous now. "Surprises are par for the course in our line of work. You've all trained for this and I know you can deal with whatever comes your way, just work as a team and you'll all be fine." He gave Jaune an extra glance to remind him of his role in this to which he drew his sword.

"We won't let you down sir."

"Don't let Vale down and that's good enough for me Mr Arc." They were soon over the city and heading towards where the smoke was coming from.

"Put us down!" Jaune asked the pilot.

"Sorry no clear landing zones nearby."

"In that case I hope you've all be practising your landing strategies." Andrew's comment made three of the four students ready themselves but Jaune was still uneasy about this.

"Sure have! See you on the ground!" and with that Nora fired herself out of the transport and flew into the city. When the ship was over the main square and the chaos could be seen Pyrrha and Ren immediately jumped out. Andrew looked over to Jaune who was stalling to jump so he grabbed the back of his collar and pulled him out with him. Jaune started to scream as they began to fall but Andrew had activated his barrier under his feet and at a more reasonable speed lowered them into the city. On the way down he took the time to assess the situation, the square was filled with dozens of Grimm and there were several different types of them. They all seemed to be pouring out of a hole in the ground from which a train had burst through. As he continued looking, his eyes fell upon the members of Team RWBY as they were already fighting the Grimm and somehow Andrew wasn't really surprised to see them here.

 _Why are you always in the thick of it_ he thought to himself as his and Jaune's feet hit the floor so he let go of him. They were all on the ground now and began to engage the Grimm, Andrew let the four of them run off ahead and decided to remain back so he could effectively coordinate the students.

Before he could do anything though, he heard a snarl from behind fast approach him so swung his fist back catching the Beowolf in the jaw and shattering its front teeth. With it dazed he span round and with his cybernetic fist delivered and uppercut that took the Grimm's head clean off. But this wasn't the only Grimm as more came running towards him.

"I'll teach you for thinking you can just waltz right into downtown Vale!" with that he charged them and when they crashed, he went into a fury. Using his unique fighting style, he always kept one step ahead of the fight and thanks to his cybernetic parts in his head and eye, it was easy for him to detect what would happen next.

He dispatched multiple Grimm but knew that until they stopped them at their source it was pointless in the end. They needed to block off the hole where they came from however no one was free to do so because of the sheer amount of Grimm they were facing. Keeping an eye on the students with him proved to be difficult as they had all spread out and just as he was going rethink his strategy the sky filled with air ships and began dropping off mechs.

"At least Ironwood can give the Grimm something else to chew on." Andrew laughed. "Okay hunters listen up! Not one Grimm leaves this area, take them down!" looking up at the sky, he then saw another transport had arrived and out of it dropped team CVFY and a welcome sight in the form of Peter Port.

"Knew he wouldn't be able to pass up a chance like this." Andrew sighed and punched a Creep through the skull with his cybernetic hand. Looking at team CVFY he added "Show the newbies what you can do." He then ran to meet up to Peter but a deathstalker got between them so he skidded to a stop.

"I really hate deathstalkers." He said under his breath as it eyed him up with it many eyes. Then it moved towards him snapping its pincers as it went with an unimpressed Andrew staring back. "Nope." He then created a barrier above it as large as the Grimm and then slammed it into the ground, squashing it into the floor and killing it instantly.

"That was impressive Andy now watch a pro at work!" Peter was armed with his blunderbuss axe and soon went to work blasting any Grimm foolish enough to get near him.

"I'm still waiting for the pro to arrive Peter so I'll guess you'll do!" Peter laughed and the two fought back to back. After team CFVY had thinned the numbers more they both headed over to the hole.

"How are we going to close this up?" Andrew threw the question out hoping Peter would have an answer, but it was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"At least wait till I'm out first!" it was Bartholomew climbing through the rubble. Peter and Andrew were giving him a hand up when a dog appeared next to them.

"Where did he come from?" he asked

"Long story, I'll tell you later!"

When all three were standing on firm ground, a stampede of Grimm were soon bearing down on them.

"You deal with the hole Andy, we've got this." Peter and Bartholomew then opened fire on them with a barrage of fire balls.

"Right deal with it. You make it sound so easy!" he was about to try something but when he saw Glynda march up to them, he just stepped back instead. As she started to fix the hole a King Taijitu tried to burst forth but was stopped by one of his barriers. Once it was sealed he felt relieved and returned his barrier.

"That's what I call a wake-up call." Peter still sounded as though he could keep going another few rounds.

"I'm fine as I am thankyou Peter." Replied Bartholomew.

"Ditto, I only wanted a morning walk not a Grimm invasion." Andrew added.

"Come on where's your hunters spirit!"

"Still in bed!" The three men then had a laugh amongst themselves. Now that everything was calming down Andrew took another look around, taking in all the damaged caused by the Grimm. Then he saw two students who he hadn't noticed in the chaos so he went over to them.

"Mr Wukong, Mr Vasilias. When did you idiots get here?"

"Hay Tinman, we've been here the whole time." Sun was pretty pleased with himself.

"Being junior detectives it's our job to clean up this city." Neptune ended his sentence with a fist bump with Sun. Andrew just put his head in his hand.

"Give me strength."

"Come on you know we did good."

"You're not my students so I don't have to evaluate you. On saying that I could tell your actual teacher that you performed well in this instance."

"Well? We rocked!" Neptune was going to continue until Sun placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Hay from what I heard, that's the highest praise anyone ever gets from him."

"No, they can get higher but I have to like them first." With that comment Andrew walked away with a half-smile but Sun was still being optimistic.

"I know you love me. See you back at Beacon Professor."

Shaking his head, he kept his half smile and walked over to team RWBY.

"Why am I not surprised to see you four in the middle of all this mess?"

"Just doing our job teach, stopping bad guys and saving the world." Yang was so smug when she spoke that Andrew was worried that this would go to her head.

"I'm sure the people will thank you for your hard work. Strange though that you ended up here when you should have been killing Grimm in the south east."

"We were but upon further investigation we found ourselves here." Weiss said.

"Yeah, we kicked butt and took down a notorious criminal in the progress." Ruby was suffering from the same smugness as her sister.

"Not to mention stopping the White Fang as well." Blake seemed pleased with herself.

 _I hope you can stop your one-woman crusade against them now, at least for the time being._ As Andrew thought this to himself, he saw the criminal Roman Torchwick being led away by some of Ironwood's mechs towards a drop ship. He was glad he was caught but knew this wasn't the end of it, not by a long shot. The people who were really behind this were still out there, hiding in the shadows and waiting for their time to strike. He just wished he could do something about it but with no more information to go on he was useless.

"Well, you're not dead so at least that's a point in your favour." Blake now looked a little annoyed

"Come on, we helped save the kingdom from a criminal threat. Don't we deserve something more than that?" Andrew slowly turned his gaze to her and only her, forcing Blake to slightly turn her own head.

"Oh sorry. I should go and tell the authorities that you deserve a medal for your hard work, shouldn't I?"

"That would be awesome!" Ruby screamed with a jump but hadn't detected the sarcasm in his tone of voice so he continued.

"Yeah and you know what? I think we should have a parade in your honour, all your names on banners and have you all knighted for your services to the kingdom! Would that be enough?" The other three were not amused by Andrew's mocking but Ruby was still somewhat confused

"I think that would be a little over the top sir." When Yang punched her in the arm, she then noticed the expressions on her team mate's faces and realised what was actually going on.

"You did your job, just like every other team here today. That's all. This is an average days' work for a hunter so don't let this go to your heads. In the future when you take on a job, no matter how big or small it is know that it is all the same to you. Protect this world and if you get recognition for it then great, if you don't then just move on."

"You always know how to kill the mood teach." Yang said.

"So, we shouldn't be proud of this accomplishment?" Weiss question him.

"All I'm saying is you did your job." Looking at their faces he decided that he had to concede one point to them. "And that you did a good job, you should be proud." Now they all looked happy.

"I think that's the first time you complimented us professor." Weiss said in astonishment.

"Don't let it go to your heads, I mean it. If you start thinking you can slack off even a tiny bit, then I'll be there to dissuade you. Now I need to get back to the school, I really need this moment to end before you all get mushy with me." Walking away from the girls he could hear them getting exciting again.

He walked through the disintegrating Grimm corpses still in the streets and he made his way over to Glynda who was talking with some of the Atlas soldiers still in the area.

"Hay Glynda, can we talk?" Glynda looked back to him.

"Sure." She finished with the soldiers and then turned to him. "Andrew about yesterday, I just want to say I'm sorry for…"

"It's okay." Andrew had held up his hand to stop her from saying anything more. He knew she didn't want him to get worked up again over his father so let the whole thing become a forgotten memory. "Is everything all sorted here?"

"There are no more Grimm in the city and the man who caused this has been apprehended. All White Fang members are also either dealt with or have fled. Overall, the situation is under control."

"Well that's good. Still don't know what the purpose of this was. It wasn't a very good attack to start with so if that's all they got then something's not adding up here."

"I agree, I feel as though this is more of a distraction than an attack. Let's get back to Beacon and maybe Ozpin can shed some light on this." Andrew nodded and they both left for Beacon.

When they arrived at Ozpin's office they found him as they expected him, drinking a coffee while sitting at his desk.

"Do you ever do anything else?" Glynda asked

"Sometimes I drink tea." Ozpin replied with a cheeky smile on his face.

"Very funny. Now what about the attack, what do we know and where do we go from here?"

"Right now, all I can tell you is that we have currently taken a pawn. What he was trying to do we still don't know but he was linked to them. I don't think he was crucial to the long-term plan however he was not a wasted move, there's more going on here than we can actually see."

"It's a start at least. Do you think he'll talk?"

"No, he's far too afraid of his employers than he is of us. He won't talk and besides we can't ask him anything at the moment anyway. He's under James authority." It was then that Andrew took a look around the room and saw that Ironwood was missing so he joined the conversation.

"Where is he anyway? Not that I want him here but if he has that criminal then he should be telling us this himself." Ozpin sighed and placed his cup down.

"He's going over security for the festival, so he has more work on his hands now." Andrew was confused

"But that's your job, our job. Why is he getting involved?"

"He's not getting involved, he's taking over. He's in charge, effective immediately by the Vale city council." Andrew felt his face begin to heat up and a rage unlike anything he'd felt for a long time try and take over.

"He's in charge now. An Atlas General now has armed power over the city of Vale!" Ozpin got up out of his chair.

"Calm down Andrew, it's okay. He's doing what he believes is right and will protect this city, I just hope he doesn't create fear in the process."

"I'm sorry Ozpin but I'm with Andrew on this one. He has gone too far and over stepped his boundaries by taking over from you. Let me go and talk with him and maybe I can…." Glynda was cut off by Ozpin

"What's done is done and doing anything now will not make the council change their minds. It was their decision not his." Andrew was still angry as his brain began going over the attack. Suddenly he went pale and froze on the spot.

"Andrew are you all right?" asked Glynda.

"He's in on it. Ironwood is in on it!" Ozpin shook his head

"Andrew stop it. He's not an enemy, he's one of us."

"Just take a look at what's happened. The attack made no sense until you see what happened afterwards. It made you look bad and the council reached out to someone who shouldn't even be here to protect the kingdom. It's put him in a position of power over us and he can now help our enemy move about without detection."

"You're reading too much into this."

"Am I? If he's working for them then now they have just what they want, this kingdom effectively under their control which means it's only a matter of time before they find what they're looking for. This has all played right into his hands, even showing off his new toy's making him look like a hero that the people can trust in a crisis."

"Stop. He's not a traitor, this I know this in my heart. I have known him much longer than you have and I can safely say this is not what he's planning. The protection of the people has always been his one and only goal although he does go overboard in doing it."

"Well you can think that Ozpin but me personally. I'm going to be keeping a very close eye on him, I've never trusted him before and he's not making himself look any better right now." With a sigh Ozpin sat back down.

"I can't stop you from thinking that but I believe he's not our enemy. If you want to watch him more closely then fine but don't lose sight of who the real enemy is. I can't have you focusing all your time on him instead of them." Andrew took a deep breath as Glynda spoke.

"Ozpin is right about this one. I just can't see James being a traitor." Andrew shook his head and started walking out of the office. "Andrew!" Glynda's call made him stop.

"Don't worry I'm not going to cause a fuss but I'm still going to watch him closely. I really hope you're right though, I've never professed I liked the guy but I don't want him as my enemy either." With that he left the office via the elevator and on the journey down he couldn't shake this horrible feeling that things were going to get a lot worse.


	23. Blow me away Students

"I really hate doing this" Andrew said to himself while he was going over all the teams who had volunteered to participate in the Vital Festival tournament. With everything that had been going on lately this had fallen between the cracks and he only had two days left to select the Beacon participates. This sort of thing was not something he would do as he always felt that he was not a very good judge of character so whenever he was asked to do it he would suggest someone else.

This time though he wasn't so lucky, no one else was free to do this because they all had their own responsibilities with the festival being held in Vale this year. He'd been a teacher at Beacon for over seven years now heading towards his eighth and in all that time he'd never had anything to do with the tournament. The other three times during his teaching career it was held were in the other kingdoms so he could distance himself from it, unfortunately with it being on his door step it wasn't going to be easy.

"This is a right pain in my ass, I wish Peter could do this instead." He knew that wouldn't happen as Peter and Bartholomew were preparing themselves for the tournament, they'd been asked to do the commentary for the matches and Andrew knew they would be great at it. Going back to the task at hand, he couldn't help but think that Ozpin was punishing him for his accusations at Ironwood.

"I need you to do me a favour Andrew." Ozpin had asked him

"Sure, what's the problem?"

"No problem, I just need you to finalise the team selection for the Vital Festival Tournament. I've been meaning to do it myself but I've not had the time to sit down and carefully think about it." Andrew groaned

"Me? Really? Can't you think of anyone and I mean ANYONE else to do this?"

"At the moment, you are the only person who doesn't have anything that needs doing urgently."

"I've got a lot of work to do, surely you could ask Glynda to do it."

"Not a chance. She and I will be busy as we are going to be meeting with James to discuss the findings from the Grimm incident." Andrew took a long, deep breath through his nose.

"And I can't come because you don't want me to upset Ironwood. Right?" Ozpin shook his head.

"No, you can't come because you need to get this list sorted before Friday and trust me it will not be a quick job." Andrew started to nod.

"I get it, I need to stay out of the way for the time being. Cool off because if I'm not thinking straight then you can't trust me."

"Andrew, I trust you with my life and the lives of the students of this school. I also trust you as a member of this select brotherhood as does Glynda. Unfortunately, I also know that you are far more vulnerable to mental stress when your emotions get riled up like when you are around James and now I believe you and him will be worse than ever. Just take some time to think about the current events, I think doing this little job will help you reflect on this."

Andrew felt as though the last couple of weeks since Ironwood's arrival had made him more irritable because he never used to butt heads with Ozpin this much. Even Glynda was having issues with him and it was all because his mind wouldn't stop shouting at him to find out what Ironwood was up to. If he really was behind the invasion and working for the enemy then he needed to be stopped but he couldn't do anything about it while he was going through the team selection.

Looking at the list he saw a lot of familiar names, of teams he thought could handle themselves and others that still had a long way to go. This made the selection a little easier as he simply cut the ones out who were not up to the task but it still left far too many teams to compete. He knew he would need to choose teams from all four years, it was a rule of the tournament that at least one team from each year must participate.

The fourth years were okay to sort through because not as many of them had signed up as the other years, this must have been because they had already been in the tournament or seen what was involved. The first years on the other hand were the complete opposite, he almost thought that the entire first year had tried to enter the tournament.

"This will be the hard part." He muttered to himself as he started to compare their scores and grades to ascertain which ones would be the best. As he had first hand observations of how all of them fought and handled themselves it did help him make a more fitting selection although he still didn't like doing this. It was like he was saying to all the teams that he didn't choose that they were not good enough to be hunters. It wasn't that but more that they were not suited to tournament styled set ups. He sat at his desk for several hours going over the selection process and once it was done he leaned back in his chair, stretched and cracked his neck.

"I think they would do nicely." He sent the list to the tournament organisers then went to his flat for some much-needed rest.

The next day he received a message that the list had been okayed so he contacted all the teams he'd selected and told them that they were in the tournament and that they also needed to attend a seminar to go over the tournament rules. Once again, he would have to do this seminar which he really didn't what to do but he didn't see the point arguing with Ozpin only to come to the same outcome.

The following Monday the seminar took place in the late afternoon, after all the classes had been finished so it didn't disrupt the schools schedule. Once all the teams had arrived and seated themselves in the main hall, Andrew began his lecture.

"Right let's get down to it, shall we? You are all here because you have been selected to be the teams that will represent Beacon in the Tournament. You have been chosen because you all have considerable skill, work well with your respective team mates and show the best of what our school has to offer." He took a pause and then started to explain the tournament rules and how it would be broken down.

"I know that some of you here had taken part in previous tournaments so this will all be old news to you but please just stick with it. All right so round one is teams so that means all four of you will take part. If you win then you move on to doubles so you choose two of your team members to move forward. After that its single matches and the person who enters this part of the tournament can only be selected from the doubles so when choosing your pair make sure that they can also comfortably fight on their own or you will find it a lot more difficult." He took a quick breath before continuing.

"Just remember, not only are you representing the school but far more importantly the kingdom of Vale. What you do in the tournament will reflect how the rest of the world will see us so be on your best behaviour on and off the match. Also, the students who have come from the other kingdoms are doing the same thing which is trying to win honour for their home so when you are in the ring I want you to be at your very best." He explained a few other things to the students assembled about the tournament but nothing that they wouldn't have been able to figure out on their own. The most important thing he wanted to get across to them was how they needed to behave.

"I want you to win with honour and more than anything else I want you to lose with dignity. No sore losers and definitely no sore winners or I'll hammer those undesirable treats out of your heads. Are we all clear on this?" he waited for all the assembled students to reply with a yes sir. In his head, he wanted to believe that they all took on what he had said but every year there was always at least one team that didn't act accordingly. He just hoped that it would be a team from one of the other schools instead of one of his students.

"Glad to hear it. Now that we've got all this out of the way you can all go about your day. Over the next week the match schedules will be drawn up and posted so you will need to see when you will be fighting and who against. Take advantage of this time to prepare as no hunter goes on a mission thinking that they don't need to prepare for it, that includes tournament battles too. You're dismissed."

Only now did he look around at the students as they were leaving. He saw Team's RWBY and JNPR chatting and laughing together obviously excited about be chosen. He saw team CVFY acting somewhat more mature about it however they were clearly happy about the chance to be in the tournament. He also saw team CRDL who were already out of the door and snarled, he didn't really want them to participate but they were an effective team who worked well together. The reason he added them was so that they could face off against some other truly exceptional teams from the other schools and learn a thing or two from them, mostly though he wanted them to become better people.

Andrew left without speaking to any of his students because his head wasn't really in the right place. It was true that his mental state was fragile right now with the stress of the tournament being held in Vale and Ironwood's hidden motives at play making him even more short tempered than usual. He decided that he needed to unwind and with no other classes planned for this day he would return home and take a breather.

Once he was back in his flat he made himself a drink and spent sometime just allowing himself to relax. The stress of the last few days was beginning to drift away, he was so glad that his part in the tournament was over and now he could enjoy merely watching it.

"I don't blame some teams for not re-entering. It's pretty demanding." He took a sip of his drink as he thought about the tournaments from past years, Vale hadn't won for a while now so he was really hoping that this year would break the streak. Another hour later and he was ready to call it a day and went to bed but as he was about to get into bed he accidentally knocked over a container on his bedside table.

"Ah shit." He said as it hit the floor and burst open. He sighed then picked up all the little bits and pieces that had fallen out. Suddenly he stopped when he saw something gold glint at him from out of the corner of his eye.

"Fuck." He breathed when he looked at it head on, it was his wedding ring. That was something he'd manged to completely forget and that was because above all things it was the most important thing to forget. Now he was panicking, if he fell asleep right this second then his mind would dream and in his current state it wouldn't end well for him. He started hyperventilating as sweat began to form on his head, he was utterly shattered from the last couple of weeks making his body weak and his mind even weaker.

All he ended up doing was sitting upright on the side of his bed for hours until he could no longer keep his eye open. Eventually he drifted off to sleep causing him to fall back onto his bed without him even realising what had happened. Almost as soon as his head hit the mattress he was out and his dreams began.


	24. Come on Carissa

Andrew was in the shared bathroom in his team's room, it was early and classes would not be starting until later. He had just finished his shower and had wrapped his towel around his waist while he was looking in the mirror at his hair. He ran his hand through it then grabbed his hair trimmers and ran it over his head several times so that his hair was short to the point of a buzz cut. After he was done he brushed his teeth and then gathered up his clothes and left the room.

"About time! You're not the only one who needs to wash you know!" Lauren blurted at him as he walked across the room.

"Sorry, I'm all done now so knock yourself out."

"Thanks." She replied as Andrew looked at her

"No really, knock yourself out. Your voice is too high pitch for me at this time of the morning." She gave him a raised eyebrow and an unimpressed smile. Andrew smiled back and laughed whilst he continued walking, Lauren passed by him and slapped his upper arm in a jesting way.

Now he had been more open with his team he felt comfortable revealing his past but more so his scars on his body. Ulysses and Lauren reacted the same way which was utter shock and spent an hour talking to him about his past. Things were now back to normal although Andrew had noticed she would never hit him where his scars were, he didn't care if she did or not but it was obvious she was concerned for him.

"Why do you have to get up so early? Classes aren't for another two hours." Chris said from the mess of sheets he was sleeping in.

"Force of habit, I'm always up this early so now I can't stop."

"In that case keep it down, I still want to get up at a normal time." Before Andrew could answer they, all heard a scream from the bathroom. Ulysses was straight up out of his bed and ran to the closed door.

"Lauren what is it! Are you okay!" the door flew open and a very Angry Lauren was standing there.

"Why do you never clean up your hair! It's all over the sink!" Andrew felt a little embarrassed as he always forgot to do that.

"I'm sorry, I'll clean it up now." Lauren was still angry

"Why do you always cut your hair every morning!? It's already short, does it have to be the correct length every single day!" Now there was enough noise to force Chris to roll out of bed.

"He said he was sorry and he's going to clean it up, aren't you?" The tone he gave Andrew was a you had better or else. Andrew sighed

"I said I was going to so I will."

"See Lauren, everything is fine." Ulysses said trying to calm her, she was still mad but gave a single loud sigh and returned to her bed.

"Get on with it then. Honestly, why did I have to end up with three guys. Can't one of you opt for a sex change so I'm not so outnumbered." Ulysses was shocked

"Is that what you want? It is a bit of a tall order but if that is what you want then maybe one of us could volunteer for it." Both Chris and Andrew slowly turned their heads to face Ulysses then to each other and in unison said.

"Not me." Ulysses went white and started to stammer which only made Lauren laugh hysterically.

"You can be so naive sometimes Ulysses, I was joking but seeing their faces really made my day. You are so cute Ulysses." Now he was blushing

"Thank you, Miss Tornda." Andrew smiled to himself and as he passed by Ulysses he patted him on the back. He then cleaned up his mess and once he was done walked back out of the bathroom.

"All done." He said and Lauren shot up

"Good. If I find any other mess you've left behind, then I'll get really mad."

"What you weren't before!?" Andrew was truly surprised by that statement but Lauren didn't say another word and went into the bathroom.

"Right now that's that drama dealt with, I think I'll get up now I'm awake." Chris said and went to get himself a drink.

"Anyone else want anything?" he asked the room

"I would love a cup of tea please Chris." Ulysses replied

"Make that two." Called Andrew through his shirt as he pulled it over his head. Chris poured water into the kettle and started to boil it but as he opened the tin they kept the tea bags in he made a loud noise of annoyance.

"Who used the last tea bag and not replace them? Come guys we have a system here, if you use it up you have to replace it."

Andrew was almost dressed but stopped when he realised that the last one to have tea was himself.

"Ah, sorry. I used the last one yesterday morning and was going to get more but I forgot to pass by the cafeteria." Chris rolled his head and then went back to bed however Ulysses was not deterred.

"Do not worry, I will go and grab some for us."

"No, I'll go. Chris is right, we need to be responsible for our own actions." He finished getting dressed by putting his boots on and then went to leave the room just as he heard Chris say

"Hurry up, I really want a drink now." Andrew nodded as he closed the door behind him.

He was walking down the corridor thinking about what had already transpired this morning.

"My new start at life is going well." He said to himself. Already this morning he had forgotten to clean up the bathroom after he had used it and now he had also forgotten to restock the tea bags that he finished yesterday. Before he only had to worry about himself so things like this were never a problem but now he had people he was beginning to care about and this was a truly alien feeling to him.

"Care about, who would have thought it." He said to himself and began to smile. He was determined not to have anything else go wrong today so he straighten up and marched around the corner only to crash into another student going the other way. They both fell to the floor and Andrew cursed at himself for once again not paying attention to what he was doing. He began to push himself off the floor and looked towards the other student he'd knocked down.

He couldn't quite make them out as they were wearing a long brown cloak with gold embroidery around the edges in the style of ancient writings. He got to his feet and reached a hand out to them

"Hay, you all right?" The person didn't look at him and just started to pick up their belongings that they had dropped. "Look I'm sorry about that, here let me help you." He went to pick up their wash bag that was near him when they spoke

"Don't, I can get it myself." It was defiantly a girl's voice that came from under the hood so he did as was instructed.

"Okay, just trying to help."

"If you were looking where you were going then you wouldn't need to help me." Andrew raised an eyebrow. _I think I know how Ulysses felt now_ he thought to himself by the way she was talking to him, it didn't stop him from trying to make it up to her though.

"You're right, I'm sorry so let me make it up to you." He went to grab another item that looked like a wash cloth only for her to grab it first. Now she had gathered everything up and was starting to stand up so Andrew reached out his hand to help her. Now she looked at him and he saw her face for the first time.

The thing that struck him first were her eyes, they were a clear almost green-grey colour and seemed to be much larger than they really were. He could also see some of her hair and that was deep brown with some wisps of white throughout, more so at the tips. She had very clear skin which looked like it was shining in the faint light that was slowly filling the corridor. Andrew was not prepared for this and froze on the spot while still reaching out his hand. She had most of her belongings under one arm and reluctantly took his hand and he pulled her gently to her feet.

"Thanks." She said and went to walk away. After the morning he'd been having he didn't want this to let it follow suit so he asked her

"Here, let me carry them for you. Make up for knocking you down." He once again held out his hand to take them from her. She however just looked at his empty hand.

"Don't bother. I can carry them myself." He sighed

"I'm sure you can but please, just let me do this. It would even out this…... altercation." She looked at him straight on and he found himself drawn to her eyes again. After a couple of seconds, she sighed and handed him her things and started walking so Andrew followed in beside her.

"Thanks, I'm trying to be a better person so I didn't want to leave without doing something to make amends."

"Am I supposed to be impressed." By the tone in her voice he could blatantly tell she wasn't.

"Okay how about I try again then. Hi, I'm Andrew. Mind telling me your name?" She didn't answer so he changed tack. "Where were you going this time of the morning anyway? Most people aren't up yet."

"I've just had a shower in the communal bathroom actually. I wanted some privacy and this time of the morning there's no one around. Also, it's easier for my room mates if I do it there." That confused Andrew as he thought showering wasn't a problem at all, unless the noise would wake them up. Also the communal showers are definitely not somewhere anyone would go for privacy so what was her real reason for doing this?

"Right." He looked down at the items he was holding and realised they made sense now. A wash bag with several items in it, a towel, a wash cloth, and another bag which he figured must have had her change of clothes in.

They remained silent for a while and Andrew was really seeing what he'd been like for the last few months. He was now understanding why he was not really wanted but at the time he didn't care, now though he felt ashamed over his actions to the people who only wanted to help him. They then came to the girl's door and she opened it

"Here you go." He said as he handed her back her things, she took them and gave him a weak smile as a form of thanks. He really wanted to voice his true opinions right now but he was determined to do better so instead bowed which made her tilt her head.

"For what must be the millionth time, I'm sorry for crashing into you. Hope you have a pleasant day miss." He stood up and her face looked very confused and he was stuck as to how to respond so he just smiled back then walked off the way he came. When he was only a few steps away he heard

"Carissa, my names Carissa by the way." He turned around to see her standing half out of her door looking back. Once again, he didn't know what to do so repeated himself by bowing and saying

"Hope you have a pleasant day, Miss Carissa." And as he stood back up she was now smiling a genuine smile.

"Thanks, you to." She replied. Andrew felt himself get warm in his face so quickly smiled back and then headed off to his room.

"That was weird. I must be feeling sick or something." He said to himself.

All the way back to his room he couldn't help but picture her face but primarily were her eyes, he found them to be on par with the beauty of Beacon's view of Vale. They were something he could look at for hours and wished he could have had another look before he had so quickly turned away. Feeling confused about the whole thing he shook his head and kept on walking back to his room.

When he got back to the room he walked in to see Ulysses sitting in his bed with a book, Chris sound asleep in his bed, snoring his head off and he could hear Lauren singing in the bathroom.

"That was quick Andrew. Have you acquired some more tea bags?" Andrew suddenly smacked his head. After carrying Carissa's things back to her room he'd utterly forgotten to get what he went out for in the first place.

"Crap!" he said and Ulysses gave him a puzzled look. "I got side tracked, this time I'll go and get them. I Promise."

"Are you sure you are all right? You look a little flustered, are you coming down with something?" the concern in Ulysses voice made Andrew put his hand to his face and he was still quite warm.

"Erm… I don't know. I'll…. I'll just go and get the tea bags. See if some fresh air will help." Ulysses nodded

"Good idea, I will come with you. I do not want you passing out if you are unwell." Andrew was going to argue but decided against it, Ulysses had a point. If he collapsed, then he would need someone to help him back up. They then both left the room together

"What did you get side tracked by Andrew?" Ulysses asked. Andrew was going to tell him but then thought it wasn't important.

"I just got turned around while I was lost in thought. Nothing to worry about."


	25. The Girl he never knew he wanted

Sitting in Professor Branchflower's history lesson and listening to him carry on and on about the line of Kings and Queens of Vale was making Andrew wish for his bed. He felt it eyelids becoming heavy with each blink becoming slower, wishing that he had some form of caffeine to wake him up.

"You had better pay attention Andrew. This class is important to our overall grade here." Said Ulysses who was sitting next to him. He felt a small serge of adrenaline course through him and almost woke him up completely.

"Sorry, just finding it hard to concentrate right now." He replied back

"I hear that, really can't wait for him to shut up." The other voice came from the other side of him.

"At the rate he's going I doubt he ever will." Andrew said as he looked towards Qrow Branwen and they both chuckled with Ulysses shushing them afterwards. He was becoming more open with the other students around him and had been introduced to team STRQ a few weeks ago. Out of all of them he started to form an attachment to Qrow, he found him to be an honest and strong-willed person but was still funnier than any other person he'd met before.

"Well if your even having trouble sleeping then I recommend recording his lecture. Instant knockout." Qrow continued which made Andrew chuckle some more.

"Could you two shut up, some people are trying to concentrate." Came Taiyang Xiao Long voice from the other side of Qrow.

"What? It's not like we're missing anything important. Who cares who the 13th Queen of Vale was and why she was so crucial to the formation of the kingdoms aqueduct system." Andrew let out a sigh as he completely agreed with Qrow, how any of this could be helpful to a hunter was beyond him. As they sat for the next forty minutes only half listening to what was being said, Andrew caught sight of something familiar a few rows in front of him. A girl wearing a long brown cloak

"I recognise her." He didn't even realise he was speaking aloud.

"Who we are looking at?" Andrew was startled when Qrow leaned across him to see where he was looking. When he saw her Qrow paused. "Well hello there. She looks very nice, so when did you first see her?"

"Erm, a couple of days ago. Bumped into her one morning, well more like crashed into her actually."

"She give you a name?"

"Yeah, Carissa." Qrow looked back at her with a sly smile on his face.

"Carissa. I think I'll go and introduce myself once this class is over." For some reason Andrew felt angry over that, the thought of Qrow "introducing" himself to her made him what to stop him.

"No you don't, she wouldn't like you." He said trying to dissuade him.

"Oh really and why's that? I'm handsome, charming and the coolest guy in this school. What's not to like?"

"I just don't think you're her type, that's all." Qrow went silent but his face never changed. For the rest of the class neither of them said a word as the teacher continued to drone on and on for what felt like an eternity. When the bell went signalling the end of class Andrew started to collect his things together but Qrow was already up and walking away. Andrew felt that same feeling again and really didn't want Qrow to talk to her because he knew exactly where that would lead to, even after only knowing him for a few weeks.

"Oh no you don't" he said

"Pardon?" Ulysses asked as he pulled his bag up around his shoulder.

"Grab my stuff." And with that Andrew leaped over the desk and then the next and the next. When he was vaulting over the last row of desks to get to Carissa the professor called out

"Mr Tinman, would you mind not turning my classroom into your own personal assault course?" As Andrew landed next to Carissa he paused to look at professor Branchflower.

"Sorry sir. Won't happen again." Professor Branchflower simply gave him a stern look as he turned to start wiping his blackboard clean. Now Andrew was sitting next to Carissa with no real understanding as to why he was there. He then heard her chuckle

"Is sorry your catchphrase, you do seem to say it a lot."

"You know I'm really beginning to think that it is." He turned to look at her and now he could see her face fully with no hood covering her head. She was something else, he'd never seen anyone like her before and just like before he was drawn to her amazing eyes.

"Something wrong, I'm guessing you're here for a reason."

"I think so, just let me figure out what it was?" Andrew said as he began to ponder why he was in fact here. This elicited another laugh from Carissa

"Well you can't knock me down this time, I'm prepared for that now." Andrew felt his face begin to go warm and as he turned to look at her he noticed Qrow walking down pass them but he didn't stop. He just kept walking out of the classroom with his hands in his pockets and a smirk on his face.

"I try to make it a habit of not knocking people down more than once."

"Glad to hear it. So, what then?" she was looking straight at him and he couldn't think of anything to say back to her. His face must have been a picture because she said, "I'm beginning to think you've not got a clue as to what you're even doing."

"That about sums up my life to this point. I didn't think this far ahead, to be fair I doubt I ever do."

"I see, well when you figure that out then please do let me know." She started to pack up her things

"Okay I will, I'm guessing we're in other classes together so it will be easy enough to find you again."

"And you also know my dorm number." After a pause, she added in a more serious tone "You're not stalking me, are you?"

"No! Definitely not!" Andrew was now wondering what the hell he was doing. He'd never acted like this before.

"I'm just kidding you idiot. Honestly I'd be worried about your mental health if I cared enough."

"Ha ha. I take it you're still sore about that crash?"

"No. I don't hold silly grudges I just want you to figure out what you're doing so I can be on my way." She was now fully packed up and sat staring at him with her arms crossed and a curious look on her face. Before Andrew could say another word, Ulysses had appeared behind him.

"Here you go Andrew, I have all of your things for you. Oh, hello Miss, my name is Ulysses Straw and my I ask your name?" he said stretching out his hand. Carissa smiled and offered her hand back.

"Carissa Remus, pleasure to meet you. I take it that this idiot is a friend of yours?" Ulysses smiled

"Indeed he is! Oh, wait I meant that to the friend part not the idiot. He is quite an adept huntsman already so he is definitely not an idiot."

"Thanks Ulysses." Andrew sighed.

"No problem Andrew." Ulysses replied, failing to notice Andrew's sarcasm in his tone of voice. _I really must explain sarcasm to him one-day_ Andrew thought to himself.

"Well it was nice to meet you Ulysses and you were interesting as always Andrew." With that she stood up and walked away and as she did she called back "When you figure out what you wanted then let me know." Andrew was feeling quite stupid now and still didn't know what he was doing other than getting here before Qrow did. He made a weak smile and waved back at her while Ulysses said

"A pleasure to meet you too Miss Remus." Now he focused on Andrew who was still seated. "She seemed nice, when did you meet her before?"

"A few weeks ago. I was as skillful with my actions then as I was today."

"What do you mean?" Andrew shook his head and stood up.

"Don't worry about it. Let's get out of here before Professor Branchflower kicks us out." They then left the class room with Andrew getting more confused by the minute.

A few days later in the canteen while he was queuing for his lunch he was standing next to Qrow talking to him as they waited.

"How did your little chat with Carissa go then Andrew."

"Badly and I don't know why."

"Well you didn't let me have a chance at her so I just thought you had something important you wanted to say."

"I thought I did but as soon as I got there, it was like my mind forgot why I went over to her in the first place."

"Ha! You idiot."

"You're not the only one who's called me that."

"Ah so Carissa thinks you're stupid as well. So she's on par with the rest of us then." Andrew rolled his head and made a disinterested noise with his throat.

"Remind me why I talk to you again?"

"Because you want to look like you know me. It's alright your only human." Andrew didn't bother replying to him as they were now collecting their food. Andrew waited for Qrow to finish getting his lunch together and then they both walked over to the tables looking for their friends.

"So now you've had time to think about it, what would you say to her?" Qrow asked causing Andrew to almost freeze in place.

"I don't know, hello." Qrow laughed as he shook his head

"I suppose that's a good start, where would you go from there?" After taking a breath Andrew answered

"Something like can we talk, for some weird reason I want to get to know her. Every time I see her now I can help but stare and all I want is just to be next to her." Looking at Qrow who had a stupid smirk on his face he added. "O.K I'm an idiot."

"Not so much an idiot, just naive in certain things such as female interaction."

"What?!"

"I'll explain later, just sit down here." Andrew placed his tray down and then sat into place on Qrow's demand. Once he was seated he was about to start eating when he looked up and didn't recognise a single person around him, then he realised that Qrow wasn't sitting down next to him either.

"Figured out what was so important that you wanted to tell me yet?" The voice came from next to him forcing him to spin his head round only for his eyes to meet Carissa's. He felt himself get warm around his face at the same time as a cold shiver ran down his spine.

"Here's your chance to say it. Good luck." Qrow said in Andrew's ear and walked away to where they were both supposed to be sitting.

 _You bastard_ Andrew thought but was immediately brought back to his current situation by Carissa saying

"Anyone home?"

"Sorry, but this is my friends fault. Actually he's my former friend now." He said with a scowl aimed at Qrow.

"I see, what was he doing then?"

"Getting me annoyed." Carissa didn't look impressed at that

"Very well. You can leave if that's the case, I'm not forcing you to stay."

"Not at you at him! Sorry, that came out wrong."

"Not very good with your words are you."

"I'm getting better with practice after speaking with the people here."

"So are you practising with me then?"

"In a way, talking to you gives me some hope that I can talk normally with everyone." She smiled

"You've clearly got some problems." And she continued to eat her lunch. Andrew followed her lead and carried on speaking.

"I really don't know what's wrong with me, I can talk to anyone else just fine but every time I try to speak to you I can't find the right thing to say." Once again, she didn't look happy about what had said.

"You have a problem with me then? What have I done to cause that if you're fine with everyone else."

"Not in the way you think." This changed her look to that of confusion so she asked

"What way do you mean then? I swear you don't make sense." Andrew took a deep breath as he collected his thoughts and decided on what he was going to say. Hopefully this time he could make it through without making himself look like a bigger idiot than he already felt like.

"Right bear with me here." He paused briefly "Everyone else I've met since I came here I've not really cared what they thought about me so I didn't have to watch what I was saying around them, well until recently that is. But even now I still feel the same way when I meet someone new but you. You're different, every time I see you all I want to do is talk to you but I never know what to say because I think I do care about how you view me. But as I've demonstrated I can't help but continue to make as ass out of myself and appear as an idiot as you put it."

There was a long pause and Andrew didn't know what to say next so just continued eating his lunch but at a much quicker pace. Once he was done Carissa still hadn't said a word as she stared at her lunch. _Great I've done it again, I've said something stupid._ Andrew got up out of the seat and grabbed his tray.

"I'm sorry about that. I won't speak to you again, I promise." As he went to walk away Carissa stopped him by grabbing his arm.

"If you want to chat then why don't we meet up after classes today. Do you know that seating area that overlooks Vale near the cliffside?" Andrew was speechless for a moment and only when she looked up to him did he reply.

"Yeah I know the spot. I'll see you there at the end of the day then." She smiled at him with her face slightly blushing and then went back to eating her lunch. Andrew then walked away not entirely sure of what just happened but decided to go with it. In his state, he wasn't even aware of what he was doing and before he knew it he had walked out of the canteen and back to his room still holding his lunch tray.

"What the hell am I doing." He laughed to himself and walked into the room. Inside was Lauren sitting at her desk reading a magazine as she ate some biscuits out of a packet that was lying next to it.

"Hi Sulky. Good day so far?" she asked still reading the article she was on.

"Yeah good thanks. No great actually. Like really really great." She stopped still, frozen with a biscuit half way between the packet and her mouth. Slowly she turned her head to face Andrew.

"Okay…... that's weird. What happ…" she stopped again when she saw his face stuck in what could only be described as a "smile", a genuine smile.

"I just think I'm having a great day."

"That's a first? Someone's usually pissed you off in one-way shape or form. You keep that face up and Sulky won't suit you anymore." Andrew laughed

"Don't worry about it, you can still call me Sulky. I'm starting to like it now." he said and placed his tray down on his desk and stood there smiling and wondering what had just happened to him and why he was so excited for the end of the day. Before he could ponder it any more he was tackled to the ground with a thud by Lauren and put him into an impressive arm lock of which he couldn't escape.

"Ow! What are you doing!"

"Shut up impostor!"

"Impostor! Have you finally lost it you nut job!?"

"Silence! I know what you are body-snatcher! You've copied Andrew's body and taken his place but you never thought I would notice the difference! That's where you're wrong!"

"Body-snatcher? Where did you get that from? I knew those magazines what screw up your head, what have you been reading now!"

"Hay shut up! I'm asking the questions around here impostor." Andrew grunted as he tried to free himself. He was physically stronger than Lauren but she had better training than him and knew moves that could incapacitate him easily and keep him subdued.

"Right tell me something only Andrew would know."

"You're insane!"

"Nope, not good enough. Try again"

"I hate you!"

"I said something only Andrew would know, half the school knows that one"

"You can't be serious. I'm not an impostor, I'm me!"

"That's just what a body-snatching impostor would say to make me drop my guard!"

"Oh come on! Right how about this then, something only I would know. How about what you told me about your past, that your family were killed by bandits and you were taken captive by them. You nearly gave in but a hunter saved you and now you're here. There satisfied?" Lauren paused

"That's right…..." Andrew sighed as he thought she would let him go now. "How did you find that out! Tell me! Did you read Andrew's mind before capturing him or did you eat his brain! Answer me you monster!"

"Just get off me you damn psychopath!" before anything else happened the door opened and Ulysses walked in.

"Ulysses! Thank goodness, quick I need your help with this thing! It claims to be Andrew but I don't believe it for one second!" Lauren shouted at him

"Excuse me?" Ulysses replied in stunned shock

"Don't listen to her, she's finally flipped! Get her off me!" Ulysses stood there completely confused by the whole situation.

"Don't just stand there help me!" both Andrew and Lauren shouted together causing Ulysses to stammer and not form any words at all until Chris entered the room a few seconds later.

"What the hell are you doing in here? I could hear you both shouting down the corridor." He then caught a glimpse of Ulysses stuck in confusion and Lauren with Andrew in a full body lock. "Did we disturb you two? Are you finally getting long now?" Chris sounded like he'd walked in on a lover's embrace which made Andrew shudder.

"No! She just attacked me and won't let me go! Please you've got to help me!" Chris laughed at the picture before him as Ulysses spoke

"Apparently that is not Andrew, according to Lauren. I do not know what has happened."

"It's not! He was behaving weird so I captured him before he could kidnap all of us!" Chris sighed

"Right let's all calm down. Lauren get off Andrew. Andrew calm down. Ulysses sit down before you pass out." Lauren reluctantly loosened her grip and Andrew pulled himself off the floor as quickly as he could.

"Now that's settled care to explain what brought this on?"

"I have no idea, I came back from lunch and then she decided to pin me to the ground for no reason."

"You are not acting like you. I know you're a doppelganger so I subdued him." Chris rubbed his forehead

"Why would you think that Lauren?"

"When he came in he was happy and not tolerant happy like he normally is but happy happy. You know what I mean? It's not how he usually is."

"Tolerant happy?" Andrew question with Lauren giving him an accusing glare.

"You were happy? Really? What's happened?" Chris asked Andrew.

"Well I was having a good day till crazy lady here tried to interrogate me."

"That is good to hear Andrew. What has made this day so good for you?" Ulysses asked and Andrew paused when he remembered what happened.

"I got talking to a girl from our class, Carissa Remus. She wants to meet up after the school day ends where we can chat properly." The three of them all looked at him with startled expressions until Lauren took a sharp inhale making her almost squeal.

"AWWWW he's found someone he like's and is going for a private meet up! Why didn't you say that in the first place you big idiot!" Andrew felt himself getting angry at Lauren but couldn't do anything about it as Chris slapped him on his back.

"Good job old boy, knew you had it in you. So, what's she like?" Ulysses then interrupted

"She is the girl you were speaking to the other day at the end of history class is she not? Congratulations Andrew, she seemed very pleasant and quite attractive too."

"Really? What's she look like?" Chris asked Ulysses who was about to describe her when Lauren barged in.

"We've got no time for all this he's got a romantic rendezvous to get to! Go! Don't keep her waiting, if she can stand to be around you then she's someone you can't afford to lose!" He was then pushed out of the room by Lauren and into the corridor with the door slamming behind him. A couple of seconds later he said

"What just happened? Wait a minute I'm not meeting her till later why do I have to go now?" he was so jumbled up by what had just happened that he was now standing there at a complete loss as to what he was supposed to do next?

"Guess I'll get to my next class then." He wanted to relax in his room for a while but he didn't want to go back in there, he'd had enough of his team's madness for the time being so walked off to his next class, containing his excitement for the end of the day.


	26. So near yet So far

"Why am I here?" Andrew said aloud while he was sitting waiting for Carissa, he was both excited and terrified while he was still contemplating why he was feeling this way. No one in his life had affected him in this way before so this was a very unusual sensation to him but for the time being all he could do was go with it until he figured out what it all meant. It wasn't even like he had known her very long after only having a few encounters with her, so this should be no different, unfortunately no matter how he tried to reason it within his head it did nothing to ease his thoughts.

"maybe I should go." He was about to stand when he heard her voice.

"Leaving already? I thought you wanted to chat?" Andrew now stood up but a bit quicker than he should have done and felt his face begin to turn red. As he looked at Carissa he found himself drawn to her eyes and for a moment lost his ability to speak which in turn elicited a small laugh from her.

"Shall we sit down?" she asked as she gestured towards the bench.

"Yeah, that would be good." He said as he waited for her to sit before he sat down too. He didn't sit right next to her, they left a space between them that could have quite easily fitted another person. For a few moments neither of them said a word and the silence was beginning to become uncomfortable so he decided to speak.

"So…. You're at Beacon." Even as he said it his head was screaming at him. _OF COURSE SHE IS YOU MORON! HOW ABOUT YOU ASK HER IF SHE'S A GIRL WHILE YOU'RE AT IT!_ There was another quiet pause and Andrew went pale. Suddenly Carissa burst out laughing.

"I think so. What about you?" he put his hands on his face and slid them together over his nose and started to feel hot as he became embarrassed.

"I'm not sure anymore. I think so, but your guess is as good as mine." After they calmed down Carissa asked

"So, is there any other questions you'd like to ask?"

"Yes, and I can promise they're not as stupid as that one. Really, I just wanted to get to know you because before I bumped into you that morning I'd never even seen you before."

"Really, that doesn't surprise me. I usually don't make myself known if I can help it."

"Well now that I have seen you, I seem to see you everywhere. It felt weird because it was like you appeared out of nowhere." Carissa looked down at the floor.

"It's not the same with you however. Did you know you have quite the reputation?"

"Really?" Andrew wasn't sure he wanted to hear this.

"Yeah, that you're a loner and a brute." He couldn't deny that it didn't sum him up because after everything that had happened to him so far it was accurate.

"If that was the case why did you agree to meet me here?"

"Because I'm the type of person who doesn't believe what most people say. They tend to exaggerate the bad qualities of people and ignore the good ones." Andrew sighed

"In this case I's say they were about right. I'm not a people person and have been known to let my anger get the best of me."

"Indeed. I saw you fight your teammate in the sparing arena and you were not gentle." Feeling ashamed Andrew tried to change the subject.

"So where do you come from? Somewhere outside the kingdom I bet, you seem like a person who's seen the real world and not the gilded cage that is the city." She hesitated before answering

"It's a small village far from here, you would have never heard of it."

"You have family there I take it?"

"Just me and my parents. We're a pretty small family. What about you?" _Crap_ Andrew thought to himself as he once again pushed himself into an awkward area and needed to manoeuvre carefully.

"I…come from a little village along the coast to the south of Vale. It was just me and my…...father." that word felt like poison in his mouth as he almost spat it out.

"Just your father?" Andrew didn't say anything but just nodded in response.

"Anyway, how come I haven't seen you around till now? You've seen me but I'm sure I would have noticed you."

"I like to keep to myself, personal preference. Not like you because even when you're trying not to be noticed you seem to attract it more."

"Great just what I need." Carissa laughed

"Don't get too worried it's not like your popular. Not like your friend Qrow." Suddenly a small smile appeared upon her face at the mention of Qrow and Andrew made a sigh.

"I can't fault you there, even I like the guy."

"Only problem is he knows it, if he was a bit humbler then I might have been sitting here with him." Andrew was not surprised to hear this.

"I could get him for you if you want?" she shook her head

"Already spoke to him earlier."

"Really?" Andrew asked.

"Only to make sure that you were genuine in your intent. Sorry I can be a little over cautious." He sighed at the response.

"I can understand, as you said I got a bit of a reputation." Carissa smiled

"He told me you were good person, especially when it came to your friends."

"Oh no. Did he tell you about Team SILV?!"

"No but I'm guessing there's an interesting story to tell." Andrew threw his head back but reluctantly told her about his run in with that even told her the reason as to why he had an altercation with them but when he got to the part when they fought she had issues with what happened.

"You punch him across the courtyard? That I don't believe." He paused a moment before adding

"Well I did. I'd say ask Serge but I doubt he would admit it."

"Nope. You don't look that strong."

"Ouch! Fine I'll let you in on a secret of mind then that will prove it." Carissa made a curious smile.

"Are you sure that you can trust me with that secret?" he gave her a quick look over and answered.

"I guess you look trust worthy enough." With a quick adjustment on the bench he continued. "You've seen my semblance, haven't you?"

"You create shields or something? That's right isn't it?"

"Erm I prefer barriers but yeah that's it. When I use it, it takes some of my natural aura's protective field and creates a transparent solid mass that is stronger than reinforced steel but thinner than paper."

"Right I get that but how does that help you appear stronger."

"Well the barriers are made of my aura which is still attached to my body, all I do is temporarily project it out from me and when it's done I retrieve it."

"Still not seeing it."

"I'm getting there. Now imagine that my barriers are attached to me via elastic, they stretch out and come back to me to return to their normal position. But also like elastic if I don't concentrate when bringing it back it could snap back to me and the force of that would send me flying and create a loud clap noise that could deafen me, not to mention would hurt like hell." With a puzzled look she said

"So…. You snapped a barrier at him?"

"No, I snapped my arm at him."

"That makes no sense. Are you messing with me?" Andrew gave a short "Ha"

"Not at all. See I learnt a long time ago to use my semblance in a variety of different ways, so I could use it for other purposes. For example, if I created a small barrier a short distance from my elbow and let it snap back it would send my arm flying forward and create a much more powerful punch."

"Ah I see now, that sounds like it would made you appear much stronger than you look."

"Thanks, I think. I call it a barrier snap which is also the noise it makes when I do it." With that he continued telling the rest of the story and when he was finished Carissa sat there quiet for a while and he thought she would walk away at once. When she did answer it wasn't what he expected

"So that's what happened to them. Everyone had rumours, but they always said it was a training session gone wrong."

"I wouldn't have done it if they had just walked away." She looked right at him now

"You were protecting your friend, regardless of what would happen to you."

"Not exactly, I just don't like bullies. I mean I was protecting him, but I don't like people who pick on others for no reason other than they're different or strange, makes me angry." She looked somewhat easier now.

"So you're not a completely bad person after all."

"Thanks…. I suppose." He answered with a nervous laugh. They carried on talking for another hour about nothing in particular as they simply just wanted to know who the other one was. When the sun began to go down and it started to get colder did Carissa decide to call it a day.

"Sorry but do you mind if we pick this up another time?" Andrew just then noticed the cold.

"Oh yeah, sure. Sorry I didn't want to keep you so long I just really started to enjoy myself." As he looked at her, he saw her smile. It was cute. _Cute? Yeah cute._ He couldn't help but smile back at her.

"I'll see you later then. Do you want me to walk you back to your room?"

"Why not." She answered and stood up immediately followed by Andrew. On they walk back they continued talking and during that time a question came up from Carissa that completely threw Andrew.

"So what made you want to become a hunter?" he stopped dead and it took her a while to notice he wasn't with her. When she did turn around she said, "Something wrong?" Andrew snapped back to reality.

"Sorry, got side tracked."

"That's all right, did I ask you a personal question? I apologise if I did." Andrew started walking again to catch up.

"Not at all but I'm not sure if I can explain it to you very well." When he was with her again they continued walking together again.

"That's okay, how about you think about a way to explain it and when we chat again you can tell me then. Sound good?" Andrew gave her a joyous smile

"When we chat again? Really?"

"Sure." She was smiling back at him, with her cute smile.

"Wow, that would be great. When?

"Same time tomorrow?"

"That would be perfect." Once they were back at her room she thanked him for a pleasant evening and he responded with the same bow he gave her when he first escorted her back to her room. She laughed and they both said goodnight to each other. Once she had closed the door Andrew fell back against the wall behind him and realised he couldn't stop smiling, even the short walk back to his room he kept the same smile and as he opened his door it wouldn't go away. He saw all his team look up at him as he entered and as he closed the door behind him. Once he looked at each of their faces in turn did he speak.

"Something wrong?" This was met by laughter from Lauren.

"Awww you look so stupid! Like a giddy school girl!"

"Come on don't ruin his mood, it's not often he's that happy." Chris was lying on his bed but started sitting up right when Andrew came in.

"But he does, if I'd have known he could look like that then I would have found her weeks ago!"

"Thanks Lauren for reminding me that no matter how I feel, you can still find a way to annoy me." All Lauren did was laugh as Ulysses walked up to him and patted him on his shoulder.

"I'm glad that you are back Andrew, I was getting worry with how late you were getting." Andrew turned to look at him and put his arm around his shoulder.

"Sorry Ulysses, I lost track of time."

"That is okay. As long as you enjoyed yourself then that is all that matters." Chris was now standing

"I take it you did enjoy yourself or did something else happen? You didn't upset her, did you?"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, no I didn't. In fact, we're meeting up again tomorrow." This triggered a screech from Lauren.

"Oh my god! Someone who can stand your for longer than an hour! Whatever you do don't mess this up. If you upset her in anyway then I'm going to kick your ass again and this time there won't be anyone around to stop me." Andrew was about to come back with a snide remark but then remembered the last question Carissa asked him before he left her and his smile disappeared.

"Is there something wrong Andrew?" Ulysses asked and he gave him a quick glance.

"While we're all here can I talk to you about something?" The three of them all looked at one another and Chris then replied

"Sure, what's up?" Andrew took a breath and released it as a quick whistle before he continued.

"I know why you all became hunters. Chris you're here because of family tradition and Lauren you're here because you want to repay a debt to someone important to you. And you Ulysses are here because…." It was then he suddenly thought about it and he really didn't know why Ulysses came to Beacon. "Actually, why are you here Ulysses?" Now it was Ulysses turn to look weird,

"Well…. I am not proud of my reason that is why I have not mentioned it."

"Come on Ulysses, not matter what it is it's not going to change how we feel about you but if you'd rather not tell us then that's fine with us. No one's forcing you to say anything." Chris had a way of reassuring people just with the sound of his voice and Andrew had grown to admire him for that because it was something he could never do. Andrew was about to say something, but Ulysses spoke first.

"No I will tell you. It is only fair that I do. I came here so that when I graduate and become a huntsman I will be able to earn money. Huntsmen are the some of the most highly paid people in Remnant and if I become one of them then so will I." Andrew paused and along with the other team mates focused on Ulysses who looked ashamed at his omission.

"I wasn't expecting that." Lauren wasn't disappointed with him but simply surprised by him stating this.

"It is not for me but my family." After that Andrew remembered what Ulysses had told him about his family and their financial situation and smiled as Ulysses continued.

"When I was found by a hunter, he saw what I was building in a junkyard and told me that with it I could become a hunter if I put my mind to it. I told him that it would be an honour but that I could never leave my family to pursue such a goal as they needed me to help them afford to live. He then told me that under a scholarship I could join an academy and when I graduated I could provide for them. That way they will never have to worry again and my sisters would be able to go to school and my dad could get the medical treatment he needs." Andrew patted him on the back.

"You continue to amaze me Ulysses. Even when you're being selfish you the most selfless person I know." Ulysses changed his expression to one of relief.

"Thank-you Andrew. That means a lot coming from you."

"See, nothing to worry about." Chris was right just like he said. During this time Lauren had moved over to Ulysses and after a brief pause then gave him a quick kiss on the cheek which made him so red that Andrew was sure he was going to burst. She then said

"You are the nicest guy I've ever met. Promise me you'll never change." Ulysses was speechless but still managed to nod once as a response.

"Okay, didn't see that coming." Chris moved over to the group. "I take it then Andrew you have something you wanted to say?" After all that he had Almost forgotten what he was going to say in the first place and it took him a few seconds to remember.

"Oh yeah. Do you mind if we sit down, I think Ulysses is about to pass out soon." He and Chris looked at him to see he hadn't move at all and they weren't even sure if he was breathing.

"Good call." With that Andrew and Chris grabbed an arm each and sat him down at his desk then went to sit down themselves on their own beds followed by Lauren who sat on the floor between them.

"Right back to my original statement. Well you see while I was chatting to Carissa she asked me why I became a hunter."

"Right." Chris was listening to what he had to say intently so Andrew continued.

"Well I couldn't tell her, I'm not sure she would like me anymore if I did."

"Good point, she likes you enough to see you again. Best not spoil it." Andrew rubbed his eyes.

"Helpful as always, thanks." Lauren smiled back.

"Your welcome. Want a kiss?" Andrew started to heave.

"God no! I've had a good evening so far I don't want to have nightmares now." She blew him a kiss anyway and he pretended to bat it away.

"Can we focus children." With that the pair came back to the conversation they were having with Chris who continued. "Don't be worried, as Ulysses just proved its no way near as bad as you think it is if the reason is just." They all looked over to Ulysses who was trying to regain himself but was still a long way from coherent sentences.

"That's the thing, there isn't a good reason." Chris sighed

"You're among friends here. You know you can tell us anything." He quickly looked over at Lauren. "I know you don't believe it, but she is your friend too." With that Andrew sat for a quiet minute while he composed himself. Finally, he said

"I wanted to run away and hide." None of them said a word for a few seconds until Chris dropped his head.

"From you dad right?" Andrew nodded. "You could have hidden anywhere though and he could never have found you so why here at Beacon or any academy for that matter?"

"Because here I'm surround by other strong people. He would never come after me here, he wouldn't risk it. After I leave here I'll be trained up and could then go anywhere I wanted without fear he'll find me and beat me. I'd be trained up and ready for him from now on."

"Running from your problems and if you get trained you can hopefully become stronger to deal with it."

"Told you it wasn't a very good reason." That was why he didn't want to tell Carissa, he didn't want her to think less of him now that she was becoming all he could think about. The silence that followed told him that there was no way he could make that sound any better, compared to Ulysses he was just selfish. Suddenly Chris broke the silence.

"You do know that no matter the reason we decided to become hunters it really doesn't mean anything." Both Andrew and Lauren looked over to him and waited for him to finish what he was going to say. "We are here for the sole reason to protect the people of this world. That is why the academies exist, why hunters are train and why all of us have come here, to save those who cannot protect themselves. That's why our personal reasons don't matter." Andrew sighed as Chris was right, that was why they were training to become better hunters, but he still felt as though his reason for joining them was still flawed.

"I think that makes me feel worse. Knowing that and still the only person I was worried about was me."

"That is only the reason you came here, it doesn't need to be the reason why you stayed, why you continued to better yourself." _Better myself_ he thought to himself. He hadn't thought of it that way although when he looked back on it, that is exactly what he had been doing. Every step he took with his team was making him into someone else but not just any other person, a person he could finally be proud of being.

"I have to admit compared to when you started you're a much more tolerable person now. You have improved and maybe one day you might even be someone I could lik….. sorry I couldn't finish that, it's never going to happen!" It looked like Chris was going to get mad at Lauren for that comment until Andrew started laughing.

"You tolerate me now? Wow I must have improved a lot more than I ever thought possible."

"You have improved even more than that Andrew, you have us and so many others now who care about you that I do not think you need to hide anymore." At long last Ulysses had re-joined the group and his words had real feeling behind them. It wasn't just his team now but the friends he had made here as well, this was the life he truly wanted to live and Chris was right that it didn't matter why he came here but why he stayed here.

"Thanks, all of you thanks. Now I think I know what I can say to Carissa tomorrow to answer her question." With a pat on the shoulder from Chris he now for the first time being here knew why he wanted to be here.

The following day when all the classes had finished he headed towards the same spot where he met Carissa before and waited for her to arrive. He didn't have to wait long for she was already sitting next to him when he noticed her.

"Hi Carissa, how are you today?"

"I'm good thanks, you?"

"I'm feeling really good thanks." She looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm glad to hear it. May I ask why?" Andrew looked out over the cliff side view for a few seconds then back to her.

"I've figured out why I'm here." She didn't say anything just simply waited for him to continue. "You see the reason I'm here is a petty reason that no longer has any meaning to me so instead I now have reason why I stay here." She gave him a small grin.

"What?" he met her grin with one of his own.

"To protect the people I care about."


	27. Broken into Pieces

"Why doesn't your hair ever seem to grow? Is it even real hair or are you just colouring the top of your head every day?"

"What? I keep it short and tidy. Is there a problem with it?" Carissa tilted her head at Andrew's response and before he could add to it she quickly reached out with her hand and ran it over his head.

"Short, indeed. Tidy, I guess so. Natural, not a chance?" Andrew laughed

"Hay I like it like this."

"Have you ever let it grow? Maybe if you did then you might see what a natural head of hair would look like." Andrew then ran his own hand over his buzz cut hair.

"To be honest I never had any interest in having hair longer than this." She chuckled

"You're what, 17? 18? And you've never once had long hair?"

"I don't know, I might have when I was little but…." He couldn't finish his answer because this was the first time he had even thought about his hair.

"I think you should give it a try. If you let your hair grow who knows you might like it. Personally, I think you might look a little more rugged." Andrew caught sight of her face and saw a hint of a curious smile like she was imagining it now.

"Well if you…. think so then I suppose I could give it a try." It had been a several days since they first started their end of day meetings, sometimes they would only talk for an hour when they were busy and other times they would talk till it was very late. To Andrew, he never noticed the time go by as every moment with Carissa was total happiness for him. They had really got to know each other well but even though he had opened to her about somethings he had decided that the subject of his father was going to be off limits for the near future. Suddenly Carissa looked at her watch and then threw her head back in a sigh.

"Ah. We've been talking for ages." Andrew gave a reluctant nod

"Sorry, I shouldn't have kept you. I was being selfish" she looked over to him.

"I wanted to stay, I just didn't know it was that late." She brushed her hair out of her face and behind her ear and Andrew felt his heart beat race faster. "I've got some homework I need to get done so I think we'd better call it a night." Andrew went to speak but only a few half words came out. "Something wrong Andrew?" He felt his face flush and tried to control himself with a cough.

"Nothing! Nothing at all!" only after he stopped did he realise he had shouted the last statement. Carissa was somewhat shocked by this

"Okay! Glad to hear it!" she then shouted back. Andrew put his head in his hands to avoid showing her his ever-increasing red face. After a few uncomfortable seconds of silence, it was broken by Carissa's uncontrolled laughter. "Sorry, couldn't help myself." Andrew made a smile under his hands

"No, it was funny." Andrew was now laughing through his hands. Once they had both calmed down they stood up together.

"Same time tomorrow?" Carissa asked with anticipation.

"Of course." Andrew smiled back and for a long moment they simply stood there looking at each other while wondering what they should do next. Eventually Carissa turned to walk away, and Andrew felt as though she was waiting for something, either something else that she wanted to hear or for him to do something. Before long she was out of sight and he felt like an idiot for he knew what he wanted to say but just couldn't.

With a sigh he walked back off to his dorm, even though he and Carissa lived in the same dorm they didn't walk back together every time. Today he knew that Carissa would be heading off to the library to do her work there, she loved her team but from what she had told him of them they made doing homework a bit trying.

She was part of team ACKE (Acker) and they were amongst the highest rank teams of the first years. Andrew had seen them in the sparing arena a few times but had hardy paid them any mind, that was up till recently when he suddenly became very interested in one member of the team in particular.

The following morning when it came time for him to shave his head like he normally did he glanced at his hair clippers and after a few moments of hesitation put them down. He then looked at his reflection in the mirror as he ran his hand over his head wondering what his hair might look like after allowing it to grow.

After two weeks he had really started to notice it grow. It was a very strange feeling at first with the extra hair on his head but it was looking at himself in the mirror that was truly strange. It was almost like looking at a completely different person and after a few startled checks he found himself becoming to like the new look. The rest of his team were surprised by the change with Lauren freaking out the most, but Carissa was the one he wanted to notice the most which she did.

"Wow, you took on what I said?" she sounded surprised but happy

"I wanted to see how it might look and I have to say, I'm liking it."

"Well I'd suggest you let it grow a little longer first that way when you get to a length you like then you can keep it that way or cut it shorter if you want." Andrew gave a half smile

"Okay if you think it would look better longer then I'll let it grow. Just a bit more." The two of them carried on with their chat with Andrew feeling as though he wanted more.

 _She's amazing_ he thought to himself. When they were done which was much longer than usual this evening Carissa was once again about to leave but stayed just a bit too long after the goodbyes. As she moved a few feet, he decided that he couldn't just let her walk away from him anymore but unfortunately his mouth moved faster than his brain when he called out to her.

"You want to meet up sometime?" the words came out so quick that they almost came out as one long word rather than a sentence and his eyes went wide in horror. _What?!_ His mind screamed as she stopped and span around.

"Pardon?" Feeling terrified Andrew took a breath to try and speak clearer as well as at a more acceptable speed.

"You want to go out and meet up somewhere out of Beacon sometime? Like somewhere in Vale?" _Where else you idiot! Have a walk in the Grimm invested woods outside the kingdom!?_ She didn't move. Andrew felt a cold shiver run down his spine and was about to speak again but Carissa said

"Sure, I'd love too." She was turning red but her cute smile and beautiful eyes seemed to outshine it. Once again Andrew felt his heart stop for an instance.

"Really?" _Really?_

"Wouldn't have said it if I didn't." His heart now went from almost dead to racing out of his chest.

"In that case how about we meet up here tomorrow after class and we'll head out into Vale."

"Okay, I'll see you here tomorrow then." Andrew and Carissa both smiled at each other and he bowed to her after which they both left.

 _How…what…. I have no idea_. Andrew was in such a daze that he completely lost track of the way he was supposed to be going, it wasn't till Qrow was standing next to him that he came to his senses.

"Wow, you doing alright Sulky?"

"Oh, sorry Qrow I was just…. Wait a minute. Did you just call me Sulky?" Qrow laughed

"Yeah, Lauren said it was your nickname and I kinda liked it."

"I swear I'm going to kill her." He sighed "But maybe another night though as I'm feeling far to good to let that get to me." And he kept on walking

"Feeling good ah? Tell me has it got something to do with all the time you've been spending with a brunet hair girl or have you started taking something? Either way is fine with me." Andrew shook his head

"Yes I have been talking with Carissa quite a lot." He stopped as Qrow laughed then said, "and tomorrow we're heading out into Vale for an evening away from Beacon."

"You're serious?" Andrew nodded which Qrow responded with a slap across his back and a quick laugh. "Way a go Sulky, I knew you had it in you. I thought you liked her, but I also thought you wouldn't do anything about it. Which is why I've been giving you some gentle shoves in the right direction." Andrew wiped his hand across his eyes when he thought about what Qrow had meant by that, the little things he had done to guide him into this caused him to look straight at Qrow.

"What's wrong with you now?" Qrow inquired

"Nothing just, thanks." Qrow scoffed

"Don't thank me, I would have gone for her if you hadn't got there first. She is pretty fine." A sly smile appeared on his face after saying the last part.

"Okay well thanks for not getting there first then." Andrew joked to which Qrow gave him a quick jab at his arm.

"Don't mention it."

The following day Andrew couldn't contain himself as he sat through all of his classes and training sessions. On more than one occasion Ulysses had to bring him back to reality and once Lauren did smack him on the back of the head with a book for the same reason but also because she was bored. When the end of the day came, he rushed back to his dorm ahead of his team mates to prepare in solitude. After a shower he quickly got dressed but didn't have anything that was special other than his spare uniform as his workout clothes and armour were not suitable for going out into vale in.

"I've really got to get some new clothes." He said to himself in disappointment, all the time he had been in and out of Vale and he hadn't once thought about getting some nice clothes for going out in. He pushed that thought to one side as he had more important things to worry about at this moment in time, he got dressed and borrowed some of Chris' aftershave so he would smell pleasant. "He won't mind."

When he was done he almost sprinted out of the room and towards the main exit of the building. On the way he saw Lauren and Ulysses walking together, he didn't have time to chat so as he passed by he patted Ulysses on the pat and created a barrier in front of Lauren for a split second. She walked straight into it with a smack and once it had served its purpose he released it at full force sending him flying forward down the corridor and out of range of Lauren's counter attack. He could hear her shout at him but couldn't make out any words but knew exactly what she was saying.

At the speed he was going he was out of the building and on his way to their meeting point before his brain had fully grasped the fact he'd left the dorm room. Within minutes he was there and when he had stopped he looked at the courtyard clock-tower, it was only just after 5:00pm and he figured that Carissa would take slightly longer to arrive so sat down and waited. His thoughts were all over the place, he hadn't even decided where he was going to take her so now that he had reached this point he suddenly started to worry.

"Oh god…. I haven't thought this through." There were plenty of places that he could go to enjoy themselves however Carissa was another matter entirely. He knew a lot about her now so in his mind it shouldn't be too hard to find somewhere for both of them to go, in theory. His distracted mind took up all his attention that when Carissa came into view he almost didn't notice her although when he did, he was amazed at the vision before him.

There she was walking towards him, wearing a sky blue sleeveless mini dress with matching belt and white short heel buckled shoes. Her hair was in tousled curls that cascaded down each side of her head and around her shoulders that shone with the setting sunlight. As for her face Andrew wasn't sure what she had done to it, but she looked even more beautiful that he even though possible, for a second he was sure he was dreaming for this couldn't be real. A quick pinch to his arm proved that he was every much awake and only served in making him even more nervous that he was.

She looked truly unbelievable, a image that he had never seen before in his life and he was stunned into silence. _She's so beautiful_ he thought as she got closer and closer to him and he looked over her again to make sure that he wasn't imagining anything.

Her hair, her face, her dress, her tail… _wait tail!?_ His whole body froze when he caught sight of that and he blinked hard several times to check his own eyesight. It was coloured exactly the same as the hair on her head even down to the streaks of white that ran throughout it. _It must be part of her dress_. He watched it closely to see that it wasn't blowing in the wind but moving from side to side on its own. He spent so long looking at it that when Carissa was nearly at him he still hadn't said a word. She looked embarrassed and asked

"Is there something on my face or something?" she was only joking and was using her cute smile to reinforce it, but Andrew's face never changed from the shock he got from seeing her tail. "Andrew?"

"You're a Faunus." The way he said it was more accusing then a simple statement to which the cute smile Carissa was wearing had been replaced with contempt.

"Yes I am."

"How did you…. I mean that where…. just….. you're a Faunus."

"I know."

"I can't believe you're a… you know…. A Faunus"

"Is that a problem?"

"Well you never mentioned it before!"

"You never said you were a human so should I be concerned?" Carissa took a breath to calm herself and then tried to reach out with her hand to touch Andrew's arm only for him to panic and pull it back sharply. He didn't even know he'd done it as it was purely reflexive like a knee jerk reaction. He then blurted out in a shocked voice

"That's different! Humans are normal, you're something else and…." He never got to finish his sentence as a firm fist landed on his left cheek bone.

"How dare you!" she said with true venom in her voice. Andrew brought his hand up to his face and began rubbing his throbbing cheek.

"What? all I said was…."

"I know what you said!" she turned around and began to storm off and Andrew started to follow her.

"Carissa…"

"Leave me alone!" she shouted back to him while she continued marching. Andrew was about to say something, but she got there first. "I thought you were different from all those other humans, I hoped you were different, but it turns out you're just like all the other bigots out there."

"But you never mentioned it before! If I had known this then…."

"SHUT UP!" she screamed as she span round which made Andrew stop dead in his tracks. "Go away! Please just leave me alone!" there were tears in her eyes now and Andrew never said another word, he simply stood there looking at her in shock. She didn't stay any longer and turned to leave with Andrew helpless to do or say anything else. Even after she was gone he couldn't move, frozen in the same spot for what felt like an eternity until he finally felt his body begin to spasm from standing in the same position for too long. With a sigh he turned around and left, hating all he was at that moment.

"You're disgusting. How could you make her cry?" His walk back to the room was slow and methodical in stark contrast to how he arrived and as he reached the front door to the building he wondered if Carissa had gotten back okay. After a brief pause he opened the door and walked through the building in utter silence. Before long he had reached his dorm and found himself stuck trying to open the door so when he eventually did he almost fell through. Chris was on the other side on his scroll and looked rather surprised at seeing Andrew walking through the door.

"I thought you were out for the evening? Got the day muddled up or something?" When Andrew turned to look at him Chris' face changed to worry. "You okay?" Andrew slumped and walked over to his bed to sit down.

"Why can't I just be normal." Chris gave him a long look and then sighed

"What happened?" They both remained silent for a few minutes after which Andrew asked

"Did you know Carissa was a Faunus?"

"Sure I did." The immediate and blunt response caught Andrew off guard.

"What?!" Chris made a semi-whistle as he released a breath

"Yeah I thought it was obvious. I mean she's not the first Faunus that I've met so I knew how some acted, especially ones trying to hide what they are." Andrew looked straight at the floor and Chris took on a more serious tone "Do you have a problem with Faunus?" he didn't reply, and Chris stood up from his chair so he was looking down at Andrew. "That's not the type of question where by silence is a good thing."

"I don't know" was the weedy answer he got.

"How don't you know? Either you do or you don't?" Andrew was quiet again and Chris was starting to get concerned when he finally said.

"Do you know what goes hand in hand with being an abusive, angry and alcoholic farther?" He waited for Chris to answer who merely waited for him to proceed. "A racist farther." Chris' head fell forward.

"Should have known it was something to do with him." Chris was wondering if there was anything else that may come up in the future because of unresolved issues with his farther but that was for another time. Right now, he needed to sort out this mess. " I'm guessing he gave you a bit of a skewed view on Faunus then?"

"He did, the pit fighter did, the town did and the Human First organisation whom I'm a member of…. did."

"What?!" Chris was about to explode but he'd learnt that nothing was ever as straight forward with Andrew as it would appear to be. As he sat down opposite him he said, "I think you had better start from the beginning with this one and I can already sense that it will be difficult for you but please, I need to hear this." After another long pause from Andrew, he finally took a deep breath

"The Human First Organisation was formed by a group of anti-Faunus humans who believe that they are a scourge on humanity that must be exterminated in order for us to survive. They even go as far to call them Grimm spawn and blame them for their existence."

"Nice bunch." Andrew scoffed

"Indeed. In Rock's Rest, everyone who lives there feels the same way about Faunus which is why the village exists. Suffice to say they are all apart of the organisation so whenever a rally was held there it was treated like a village festival… and I was part of it." Chris detected shame in Andrew's voice at the end

"Okay that's a start. So you were a member by proxy of your farther then?" Knowing how Andrew's farther had treated him he could believe that he was forced to hate Faunus and be a part of the group or he would have suffered even more punishment. It took Andrew some time to answer but he did with a simple single nod. "What did you think of the group and what they said?"

"Seeing as I'd never met a Faunus in my life I didn't know what to think. All I knew was what they told me. The picture they painted of them was not pretty at all and because of that I became…. Afraid of them. You see even though my dad hated me he still wanted to make sure I knew who the true enemy was." Chris shook his head

"Ignorant bastards. Its people like them that goes to show why Faunus like Carissa try to hide themselves, if only to live a life without constant fear." When Chris focused his eyes back onto Andrew he could see he was becoming very upset. "Andrew?"

"I acted like she was a freak…."

"Oh Andrew. You're so messed up in that head of yours that I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't know up from down." He got up and then sat himself next to Andrew. "You didn't say anything you shouldn't have did you?" With shame filling his face Andrew responded

"I basically said she wasn't normal."

"Crap. I take it that she didn't take that very well?"

"She punched me then left."

"Fair enough but you did deserve that."

"I deserved more than that" confused Chris asked

"Why what else did you do?" With tears forming in his eyes he said in a wheeze

"I made her cry." Chris then put his arm around him. "How could I do that to her? She's kind, gentle, sweet funny and so much more and I made her cry. How can I ever forgive myself for that?" Chris patted his shoulder

"If you had known she was a Faunus from the start, do you think you would have still spoken to her, would you still be with her right now?" the reply he got was muffled

"I don't know, I really don't. With all those years of anti-Faunus speeches I think I would have been taken aback but… I would have hoped that I could have got past it because if I hadn't then I wouldn't have been with her." With a semi-smile Chris said

"Well I can see your no racist, you do care about her regardless of her heritage. Just let her come around and when your both ready try and speak to her again and tell her what you told me. I'm sure that she'll understand." Andrew shook his head violently.

"No! After what I've done, I'm never speaking to her again. I don't deserve her, I never did. I can see that now." There it was, the final proof Chris needed, Andrew wasn't saying this as meaningless word for once they were out of his mouth it was like someone had just stabbed him through the heart.

"Andrew come on, don't be so melodramatic. We can sort this out just…."

"I'm not, I did this. It's my fault and no one else's. I could have acted better and chose not to think like a Human First bastard, but I did." After a pause he added "I hate me." Before Chris could try and talk to him some more Andrew turned around and went into the bathroom. Chris thought he would slam the door but instead he let it close slowly with an almost silent click as it shut.

"You are a stubborn idiot at times." Sometime later Ulysses and Lauren entered the room.

"Evening! What you doing Chris?" Chris was still in a daze from his chat with Andrew and didn't reply very quickly.

"Not a lot. By the way, Andrew's back."

"Already? Wow that was a quick night out. Did she get bored or did he get the wrong night? Regardless I owe him a kick to the gut for that barrier trick he pulled on me." Lauren was joking and still had a cheeky grin until she saw that Chris' face remained serious. In an immediate shift in tone from happy to concern she asked, "What did he do to her?"

"That is not fair Lauren, why would you think he did something?" Ulysses was already jumping to Andrews defence, but Lauren sighed in response.

"Because he's Andrew, plain and simple. If something went wrong, then its more than likely because he put his foot in it than Carissa doing something to offend him." Ulysses was about to say something when Chris spoke.

"You know him to well. Guess that's to be expected after all this time. Sit down and I'll explain." He waited for both his other team mates to be seated and said. "This is going to take a while."


	28. Let me hear you say it

After everything that had happened, after everything he had gone through and everything he had done to overcome it since he arrived at this school he'd truly thought he had been through the worst of it but no. It seemed he was destined to be miserable for the entirety of his life and no matter what was put before him to think otherwise, they were all just illusions. Before he didn't care what people thought of him or what the consequences of his actions might yield but thanks to his team members he now couldn't stop wondering how she was feeling about him. It may have been only two days since that event, but it still hurt, and he had hardly said more than a couple of words to anyone and even then it was merely short replies that meant nothing to the question that people had asked him. He had once again become a shell of a being making all the progress that his friends had made with him all for nothing, he was a child again.

Whether he was sitting in the cafeteria, his room or in class he was to all around him simply nothing.

"Come on man, you got to start livening up." Andrew slowly tilted his head towards Tia as they sat in the seats around the sparing arena and proceeded to turn back just as slowly. "You can't change the past, so you might as well carry on into the future." Still Andrew said nothing. "You've still got us, remember that." Tia put his hand on Andrew's shoulder to which after a couple of seconds he did make a trying smile towards Tia.

"Thanks." And with that he resumed his silent watch, staring at the floor. Tia was about to say something, but Ulysses spoke first.

"I am sorry Tia, but I think that Andrew would like to be alone with his thoughts right now." Tia gave a sigh and removed his hand from Andrew's shoulder.

"There's got to be something we can do. He's not himself anymore, he's not even the self he was before."

"I know. Unfortunately, there is not a lot that we can do about it. Lauren said this is something he will need to work out for himself."

"Doesn't mean we just sit here and watch him being depressed." The rest of the class went by without Andrew paying the slightest bit of attention and when everyone began to leave he remained and waited so he was the last one in the room. This never worked as Ulysses didn't move until he did.

"You don't have to wait." Andrew said

"That is where you are wrong, I do." Ulysses never left him alone, worried what he might do to himself and only when he was back in the dorm room did he reluctantly leave him. This was only because Lauren told him to so that not only would it give Ulysses time to do his own things but also let Andrew have a moment to himself. She then took over trying to bring him around

"I know it's hard to recover from what you said especially when you say racist comments, even if you didn't mean them, but you've got to come around." Andrew who was lying on his bed, rolled over so he was facing away from Lauren. "Come on, no come back?" only silence replied so she slumped in her seat and span it round so she was facing her desk and got on with some work. Not another word was said between them until Chris came in some time later.

"How's he doing?" Lauren pointed over her shoulder with her pen.

"No change." This made Chris sigh.

"We all want to help you Andrew but it you don't say anything then how can we?"

"You can't." was the only reply he got. Lauren pushed herself away from her desk and stood up to walk out of the room.

"I need to get something to eat, can you watch him?" Chris nodded and as Lauren passed by him she whispered, "Please do something, I'm beginning to miss him." Before Chris could respond she was out of the door. He turned and looked at his partner

"I keep telling you that you need to go and speak to her. Maybe you can straighten this whole thing out." No reply and Chris was no longer surprised. "It's not too late, I'm certain that you can explain it to her, like what you did with me."

"It won't matter." Hearing him speak now was a rarity so it did cause Chris to pause for a moment.

"But it will, if you tell her exactly what you told me then…"

"Which part? The fact I was a member of a human supremacy group or that I viewed her as something not normal?"

"I wouldn't say it quite like that, but if she knows about your father then I know she'll understand…"

"I haven't mentioned my father."

"Ah, that's why." Chris sat down next to him on the bed. "If you don't tell her things like that then she'll never truly understand you. As much as it pains you, you have to admit it for it is a part of your past and it still affects your present."

"I don't' want to talk about it." He was getting annoyed with Andrew now, he could completely understand why he wanted to keep his past in the past but until he found about it he couldn't fully understand who his partner was.

"You could still at the very least try and speak to her again. Just try to apologise and if you're lucky then you might get past it." Andrew span round and sat up straight.

"That's not happening. Not now, not ever."

"You really think it's that bad?"

"Yes."

"Why?" Andrew sighed then replied

"I don't trust myself around her anymore, I don't want to say anything else that might offend her or upset her. I could take it the first time, knowing that I'd done that to her again is just…cruel." Chris put his hands on his thighs and pushed himself up.

"I could help you, all you have to do is ask."

"No. Thanks but no. I'm so ashamed of myself that I couldn't even think about speaking to her again." The look on Andrew's face confirmed what he said so Chris decided that he was going to try a different approach and be blunt.

"You liked her, didn't you?" Andrew gave him a confused look.

"Yeah, your point being?"

"No I mean you really liked her."

"Yes. I spoke with her nearly every day, I wouldn't do that if I didn't like her, would I?" Chris shook his head

"You're not getting it I mean you really LIKED her, a lot. More than a friend, am I right?" Now Andrew went red and shifted on his bed so that he was looking away from him.

"I don't know, maybe. I mean I would have wanted to, but it doesn't matter now." With that he rolled back over so he was facing the wall.

"Only if you give up and I don't think you should. Not over this. Seeing you so happy made us happy as well and I know Carissa was happy too. We can't let you part like this when you can fix it just by explaining all of this! Please just talk to her!" Andrew didn't move or say another word and after a few minutes Chris tossed up his arms with an exasperated breath and sat down. With still no reply he span in his chair and forcefully pulled his scroll out and started to do some work. He didn't have to wait long for Andrew to finally reply

"I do like her, more than I thought and that's why I can't speak to her. She deserves so much better than me. Someone who would never upset her, anger her, or cause her to cry. I've proven its not me." Before Chris could say another word, Andrew had stood up and was already out of the door.

"You stubborn idiot." He said as he ran his hands through his hair. As he sat there he tried to think of a way to solve this, he wouldn't let Andrew give up because he knew that somehow this could be salvaged. He spent some time thinking and suddenly came to one conclusion. "If he won't go to her then I'll have to get her to come to him."

The next day came with no change in Andrew's attitude, it was like he was a robot just doing things because he had to. Getting up, getting washed, getting dress with no emotion what so ever and in complete silence. Watching all this from under his bed covers, Chris waited until Andrew had finished and was ready to leave but in this state, he was he was moving so much slower that Chris nearly cried out when Andrew left the room.

"Finally!"

"Excuse me?" Lauren was making herself a drink and Ulysses was still asleep.

"Sorry, just wanted him out of the way. Do you know where he's going and how long he'll be gone?" Lauren poured herself some hot water into her mug and began to stir.

"Don't know, I would say he's probably going for a morning walk. Not like we have any classes right now. Wait…. We don't have classes do we?" her face was concerned

"Easy Lauren, no we don't have classes yet, not till after lunch. I'm guessing he'll be in class later as he's still doing mundane things I just want him out of the way this morning."

"Not that I don't agree with that but why do you want him out of the way?" Chris pulled himself out of bed and walked over to the bathroom.

"I've got a plan." And with that he closed the door behind him. He got washed and dressed and when he left the bathroom he almost crashed into Lauren who must have been standing with her nose pressed up against the door for her to be that close.

"What are you up too?" she inquired

"Shit, not so close! Damn you remember that conversation we had about personal space well it applies to EVERYONE. Got it?"

"Ulysses doesn't mind"

"Ulysses is too nice to say anything, so I'll say it for him."

"Fine fine buuuuut you didn't answer my question? What are you up to?" Chris grabbed his jacket and put it on.

"I'm going to see if I can sort this whole thing out from another perspective. Just make sure that Andrew doesn't realise I've gone or he'll kill me." Lauren was only puzzled for a second and then realised what he meant.

"OH! Good idea! Go, go and if he comes back I'll have thought of something to say to him!" He didn't want to know anymore because he knew it would be something that would annoy Andrew and the less he knew about it the better. He went for the door and said

"I hope this works." Before he felt he heard Lauren say

"You and me both."

It was still early morning and the first classes of the day would only just be underway meaning he only had a few hours before lunch and after that he would need to be in class for 14:00. If he couldn't find Carissa before then he would have to try again tomorrow but if he didn't do it soon he was afraid that Andrew would completely give up. She had the same timetable as he did meaning that he knew that she also didn't have any classes at this time although that didn't necessarily make things any easier for him.

Standing in the main courtyard, Chris was waiting for Carissa to make an appearance but even though he had seen her before in class he couldn't say that he knew her well if at all to determine where she would be. He took a deep breath and let out a long whistle as he looked over each corner of the courtyard. He started looking around everywhere he could think to look for her but this proved futile as he had no idea where to start. He didn't even know where her dorm room was so that made it even harder for him to have a place to start from.

"Maybe the library? I don't think they're any classes right now. Ah this seemed like a good idea at the time." He started walking around whilst he kept his eyes peeled for any sign. An hour passed was no luck however he knew that trying to find one student among all the others at this school wasn't going to be easy. "You'd think a Faunus would stand out more, wait what did Andrew say her animal attribute was?" He stood still for a moment and pondered what it was but came to the conclusion that either Andrew didn't tell him, or his memory wasn't as good as he thought it was. He started moving again and another hour went by and he had even started to ask anyone passing by whether they knew of her and each time got no usable answer.

"Come on! This is getting stupid now!" he shouted which scared a group of passing students, so he quickly moved away while being rather embarrassed. He planned to find Carissa was not going well and if he asked Andrew for anymore information about her he would most likely figure out what he was going to do and stop him. When Chris came full circle to the courtyard he was going to call it a failed exercise and go back to the dorm room when something caught his eye. Someone wearing a long brown hooded cloak that appeared to have some form of golden pattern running around the outside of it.

"That looks familiar." He said with a smile as he walked over to the girl as she had stopped to take something out of her bag. When she turned briefly he got a look at her face, but it was all he needed to identify her, clear skin, brown hair with white strands amongst it and her bright green eyes. _That's her all right._ He knew that it was her from Andrew's description, so he approached her formally and got close before finally speaking.

"Erm excuse me, are you Carissa Remus?" the girl suddenly turned to face him.

"Do I know you?" she asked

"Not me no. I'm Chris Lionheart but I believe you do know my partner. Andrew Tinman." He barely got the name out before she started to storm off, so he followed her. "Please don't go I just wanted to talk." She didn't reply and kept on walking, quickening her pace. "I'd rather not follow you all the way back to your room but if that's what I must do then I will." He called out which then caused her to stop.

"What do you want!?"

"I just wanted to talk to you, that's all."

"About what then?! What do you want to talk about? How your racist friend isn't all that bad? Come on out with it?!" Chris sighed

"Can we go and talk somewhere else, I don't want to discuss this right here?"

"I'm fine here, if you want to talk to me then why not here?" she was being stubborn, and Chris was starting to see why Andrew like her so much, they did seem a lot alike.

"I just thought that you deserved an explanation as to what Andrew did." She tensed up at his name and then she started to relax.

"Look I know you're his partner and friend and you have to defend him but there is nothing to talk about. Please leave it at that." She then turned to walk away.

"I know him about as well as anyone can, like you. We know he's an idiot, prone to fits of anger and not the easiest person to get along with. But we also know that he cares about those people who can see past that, he'd do anything for them, can be fiercely loyal and I'm sure you also know he's not a lair. So when he told me that he did really like you, I knew that you much have been something special to him." She stopped mid step and waited there for a few moments in silence. Chris wasn't sure what she was going to do next until she then said

"Where did you want to go?" Chris smiled, he'd got his foot in the door.

"You lead I'll follow" with that they walked off towards a small outside dining area and sat down at a table so that they faced each other.

"What is it you want to say then because there's not much you can say to make me change my mind."

"Even after telling you he likes you?"

"I'm not sure about that comment, not after what he said to me."

"I know, you are just as stubborn as he is but let me ask you something before we start." He waited for her to let him continue and then added "I'm sure that he's never spoken to you about his father before? Am I right?" she nodded her head

"Yes, whenever the subject came up he would answer usually with one word and he'd then immediately change the subject. I don't have very much to go on other than that." Just as he thought, he remembered that it took a sparring match to get Andrew to speak to him about that sensitive subject.

"I'm not surprised. Now what I'm about to tell you could land me in some serious trouble with him if he ever finds out that I've done this." She didn't say anything but looked concerned as he carried on. "I don't know all the details but from what he has told me his father was in light of a better word, evil. He treated him like an animal that he beat, hurt, and abused pretty much every day. From the moment his mother left him to the moment he ran way that was the life he led with no one to protect him from it. It has coloured his whole life so much so that even now he is still suffering from it, more so mentally than physically and it's taken us months to get him this far that he was starting to open up to other people."

"Trying to make me feel sorry for him. You say that he doesn't lie but what about you, how do I know that you haven't just made this story up?"

"You have a point, you don't know me, but you do know him. I doubt he's shown you the scars to prove this story, but I know you're a smart person. You know there's an issue there and his damaged mind is difficult to open but if you do then you'll know the truth."

"How does this excuse him exactly?" She was confused but still open to hearing Chris out.

"Well you see his father WAS a racist. Apparently, he's a member of a human supremacists group which Andrew was also a part of."

"So, he is a racist then?" Chris shook his head

"No not at all."

"Well if he's a member then he must be."

"He's was a member because his father forced him to be, as Andrew put it, "To make sure he knew who the enemy was." He went along with it because if he didn't then I'm sure he would have suffered more at his father's hand and that might very well have killed him." They both sat there in silence for a while as Chris let that sink into Carissa's mind. Once she had thought about it she said.

"Something sunk in though, the way he acted when he realised what I was… it was demeaning. He treated me like it was my fault for being what I am. I think he's just trying to get out of this by making you believe he was innocent and his dad was a convenient escape goat." _Yep, it's just like starting all over again with Andrew._

"I don't think so, not only is that not the way he thinks, and he has many reasons to blame his dad believe me but the reason he gave for what he did to you didn't truly involve him at all?"

"Excuse me?"

"All the times he had to go to these anti-Faunus rallies because of his dad, not once did he blame him for what happen with you. He blames himself. Seeing you brought the rallies to the front of his mind which as you noticed caused him some distress. His mind was split between that and you."

"Then why didn't he just say this to me?" Chris laughed

"You must be joking. He doesn't have much social interaction experience so what can you expect when his brain is confused, you were the first Faunus that he ever met, and you were nothing like what he had been told."

"Are you telling me that he believes the rallies then?"

"Not at all. He wanted to meet a Faunus before he made up his mind and I think it's safe to say you made one hell of an impression on him. Years of anti-Faunus propaganda and you broke through it." She started to look somewhat easier now, but Chris could tell she still wasn't there yet. "You know when he came back and told me what happened he looked broken. I've never seen him like that before, I've seen him close to that once but upsetting you well, he couldn't bare it. The thing that made it worse though was when he said that he could never speak to you again and it was like he'd died, you've become someone very important to him and he thinks he's lost you." She looked away briefly and brushed her hand across her face, to wipe away a tear he couldn't say.

"If he feels this way then why isn't he here telling me this instead of you?"

"That's easy, he cares about you so much that he doesn't want to speak to you in case he says something else that might offend you."

"If that's the truth then it's probably best that he doesn't speak to me again."

"He's a…. special case. I've found that he has a hard time saying what he wants to say. Its like he can't switch of his mind and says whatever is at the forefront so the shock of seeing a Faunus took over his rational thinking. If you meet again I can promise you that he's going to be very different."

"It's not that simple, I can't just forget what he did and said."

"I'm saying that you shouldn't." Carissa tilted her head

"That's not what I thought you were going to say." Chris laughed

"All I'm saying is that it's in the past and there's nothing you or him can do to change what has happened. The future on the other hand, now that's a different story. Speak with him, work through this and then let it become a bad memory and maybe in time you might be able to forgive him. It's not like one more bad memory is going to make him go crazy, not if all the others haven't done that yet." _I hope_

"This is a lot to take in at once, and I'm still not completely convinced that this is the truth or the full truth." She paused for a few seconds and Chris started to come up with something else to say. "But, I will let him explain himself to me."

"Really!?"

"Yes, but him and him alone. No one else so he doesn't have anything to hide behind. Got it?"

"Absolutely! I know you're doing the right thing! Where do you want to meet? Its best that I tell him because if he hears it from you he might get scared and run out of the school." That made Carissa laugh.

"I think you're over exaggerating. Just get him to meet me at the end of the day at our usual spot. Think you can do that?" Chris knew the spot, Andrew had told him about it after the first couple of evenings he came back late.

"Done." Carissa smiled and brushed her hair back behind her ear.

"You're a good person Chris which is why I'm doing this."

"Ah I'm looking out for my friend. Well more like a brother."

"Brother?" Chris nodded

"He never had one and I believe he needs one, but he needs you far more." Her smile then was quite cute as he knew she was thinking about Andrew. _How you got this girl to like you Andrew is beyond me._ He gave her another swift look. _Lucky bastard._

"Something wrong?" Carissa asked. With a quick shake of his head he answered

"Nothing, just glad you're willing to give him another chance." Before she could answer him, another voice called out to them.

"Carissa, there you are! I was wondering where you had got to." Looking up Chris saw who the newcomer was to this conversation and he had to catch his jaw before it hit the floor. Standing there was an olive-skinned beauty with short messy black hair which did nothing to offset her hazel eyes.

"Sorry Kavita, I got a little side tracked. Oh, this is my partner Kavita Mare, and might I introduce Chris…."

"Lionheart, Chris Lionheart. I'm the Leader of team CULA and I must say it is a pleasure to meet you." Chris had stood to meet Kavita and extended his hand. _Wow._ She on the other hand didn't look impressed in the slightest.

"You in the same team as that Andrew, aren't you?"

"That's me."

"In that case can you give him something from me?" Chris shrugged his shoulders.

"Sure." No sooner had the word left his mouth did he receive a punch to the chest and it was aim strategically at an old sparring complaint just under his collar bone. He let out a cry of surprise and pain and found himself falling back into his seat.

"Oooouch! That hurt!" Carissa shot up and pull Kavita away

"Kavita!" She never took her eyes off of Chris

"Stay away from my friend! I won't let him harm her again! If he does then next time I'll hit a more painful spot!" Chris was about to answer but wheezed instead followed by several coughs, but he smiled.

"Please Kavita, he was just talking to me! Don't' hit him again!" Kavita looked quickly at her then back to Chris and once again back to her.

"Why protect him? His teammate's a rotten scoundrel!"

"Don't call him that." Chris finally managed to say which caught Kavita's attention. "I'm the only person who can insult him like that, even if you are a pretty lady." All the while he spoke he still smiled just as Kavita remained unimpressed. "I came here to ask Carissa here to simply hear me out on Andrew's behalf. I've done that and now we can leave it there."

"I'm so sorry that she hurt you Chris." Chris razed his hand

"No problem, although I wouldn't mind if we could continue this another time Miss Mare." He gave her a wink but all she did was turn her nose up at him.

"Kavita, don't be like that." Carissa's words did make Kavita sigh which she then followed with a shake of her head.

"Like he said we're done here so can we go now." Carissa looked back at Chris.

"I'll see you another time. Just remember what I said." Chris nodded and tired to hide his smile at his victory. The girls then started to walk away and suddenly Kavita span back around and marched back to Chris.

"If you or your…. Friend do anything to her again then I'll get even rougher with you next time."

"Promises promises." He said with a sly smile. Kavita looked cross but also embarrassed as she turned back on her previous course and joined back up with Carissa. Chris sighed

"Andrew got Carissa and Ulysses doesn't know it but Lauren's all his. Why can't I seem to get a girl?" The image of Kavita stayed in his mind. "She's fiery. Just the way I like them." He started grinning rather foolishly and began his walk back to his dorm happy with his success. "Although, I still need to get him there? Ah I'll think of something."

The rest of the day went by so slowly that Chris was getting fidgety by the last class of the day, Grimm Studies. All the while he watched Andrew who was still in such a depression that Chris was worried it was already too late to do anything about it. As the class went on Chris looked around the room and found Carissa sitting on the other side of the room right next to Kavita. It was as though Kavita was trying to be a buffer or more likely a shield between her and anyone else. It was at that moment he could no longer take his eyes off of her as he rubbed his still aching collar bone and chuckled.

"Something funny?" Tia asked him

"Just remembering something." This didn't really appease Tia, but he carried on taking notes on the lecture. When it did finally end, and everyone had packed up, Chris waited for everyone to leave so that it was only his team left.

"Come on Andrew. Class is over now so how about we get you back to the dorm room. Or would you like to get and get something to eat from the cafeteria?" Ulysses was still being upbeat as he tried to get Andrew to come around. Unfortunately, Andrew had reached a point where by he was no longer replying with words, he stood up and proceeded to walk out of the room with Ulysses running after him. Lauren then got closer to Chris.

"Did you do it? Did you find her, talk to her?"

"Yes, yes and yes." He replied with a sigh "Just need to get him to meet her now."

"That's easy! Let me do it!"

"No. We want him to be in good condition when he sees her, not looking like a he's been attack by a crazy woman." She pouted and they both walked out and back to their dorm.

"Couldn't we just knock him out and dump him with her?"

"Hmm, better but no. I think it'll send the wrong message."

"At least I'm thinking of something. What's your grand plan?"

"It's a secret." Was all he'd say which infuriated Lauren, she always hating not knowing what was going on, she especially hated secrets. "Look, he'll be there. Don't worry" _Better think of something quick or else I'll have to resort to letting her do it her way._

In the dorm room, all four members of team CULA were all doing their own thing. Ulysses and Chris were doing some homework, Lauren was going through her text book collection because she decided that arranging them by the covers colour made more sense than in order of her favourite font on the front cover. This left Andrew in his now usual position of curled up on his bed facing the wall while not making a sound. He couldn't help it, his mind and thoughts revolved around that evening with each time seeming to appear worse than the last. Stuck in this spiral he couldn't seem to break he just resigned himself to this. After some time, all of which was lost to Andrew, he heard some movement on the other side of the room followed by the familiar sound of the tin with the tea bags in opening. There was a moment of silence and then Chris cried out.

"Who used the last of the tea up and didn't replace it?! If I have to make a check list to make sure this doesn't happen again then I'll be pissed!"

"I thought there was still some left in there? I could have sworn so." Ulysses stopped working and stood up.

"Well how was the last person to have a cup?" Chris asked

"Andrew!" shouted Lauren who this quietened her voice "It was Andrew, I saw him do it."

"Are you sure? I did not see him do it?" Ulysses questioned

"Well he did! You must have been so immersed in your homework that you didn't notice!" Lauren blurted out

"Okay calm down. Andrew did you use the last tea bag?" Andrew rolled over and sat up

"I don't know maybe." He said

"Then go! Go and get some more, like right now!"

"Easy." Chris looked straight at Lauren with a usual glare which Andrew couldn't figure out. With a reluctant sigh Andrew said

"Fine, I can tell you don't want me here. Next time Lauren just say and I'll leave." He got up and Ulysses went for the door.

"I will go, you are not feeling well enough to go out." Lauren then ran across the room and grabbed Ulysses and pulled him away.

"Come here! He's fine, just being a misery guts aren't you sulky?" This proved he was still Andrew because upon hearing that name Andrew went straight for the door but before he grabbed it Chris said

"If you're going to be in that mood then why don't you have a LONG walk while you're gone. Maybe a wonder near your favourite spot will do you some good and calm you down somewhat." Andrew didn't reply and left almost slamming the door off its hinges as he went.

On his way to the cafeteria he felt a small rage take over him. _She doesn't understand how I feel, she never could._ This didn't last too long as when he left the dormitories and saw the sun setting in the distance. Looking at it he felt his rage begin to subside but as it did he also felt his depression begin to come back. He didn't want to go back to his dorm room, not if Chris and Lauren were going to be unsympathetic towards him.

"I think a few hours by the cliff side will be just what I need. Some quiet and maybe when I get back they'll have calm down too. I'll do just that Chris." He knew that if he went there he would not feel any better, but he hoped that the scenery might help him ease his thoughts. Even on the way he could not help but start to fall back into his current state of mind, along the walk he wondered if going there would make him worse, bring up the good memories he held so dear between him and Carissa. Even thinking of her name made his eyes water and at that point he nearly turned around to go back to the cafeteria but in the end he carried on until he finally reached the cliff side and saw the view before him.

"I never get tired of that view."

"It is a beautiful view." The sound of that familiar voice almost made his neck snap at the speed he turned it. Sitting on the bench was Carissa. "Hello" she continued, her face was definitely concerned, and Andrew lost all ability to speak. For a minute he stood there speechless while she stared back at him. Eventually he found the courage to say something.

"Hi" even that was difficult for him to do but she didn't say anything else so he knew he had to do something.

"I should go, sorry for disturbing you."

"I thought you wanted to talk?"

"Talk?" Carissa sighed

"Yes, Chris said you wanted to talk." Andrew became very confused which soon subsided as he realised that Chris had gone behind his back.

"Why does he always have to mess around with my private life." He looked back at Carissa "I can't apologise enough to you, what ever he did or said I take full responsibility for. He thinks he knows what's best for me even though he doesn't truly understand how I feel."

"You feel ashamed." Andrew paused so Carissa continued "Of what your father is, what he tried to make you and how you acted." Once again Andrew felt a rage come over him

"He had no right in telling you about my father or any of that! I told him about it in confidence!" He was going to storm off and show Chris exactly how he was feeling right now until Carissa said

"Chris cares about you, more than your father did from what I can tell. Please don't be angry at him." He stopped again

"He's a know it all, thinks he can fix everything himself. But…. He's never steered me wrong so far." He turned around. "What did he say?"

"That your father was a detestable man with racist views." Andrew took a deep breath as those memories overcome his mind.

"Quickest way that man's ever been summed up." After a pause he said, "Look I would like to take this time to say that I'm so sorry for the other evening and I will never do that again, to you or any other." Carissa semi smiled then patted the bench

"Why don't you sit down and we can talk this out." Andrew felt his throat close and a cold sweat start to form on his forehead. He did eventually walk very slowly over to the bench and when he sat down he made sure he was as far away from her as possible. Carissa noticed this immediately "Are you sitting over there because I'm a Faunus? Does it really bother you that much?"

"NO!" after shouting that he tried again seeing the shock on her face. "No, I just didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable. You know after the last time we were… near each other." He gave her a quick glance "See, I'm already upsetting you. This isn't a good idea, I think I should just go." He was about to stand until he felt her hand on his.

"You're not going anywhere until we've talked this out." Andrew stopped moving and then rearranged himself as he sat down again.

"Sorry I'm not the best at these conversations. I try my hardest to avoid them because I know I'll say something that will make it worse."

"Is this to do with you dad again?" Andrew sighed

"I didn't think I'd have to go through this topic again so soon."

"Is it true that he hurt you growing up?" _Damnit Chris what didn't you tell her?_

"Yes. He seemed to enjoy it and left some nice reminders about it too." Carissa looked him over

"He scared you?" Andrew nodded "Can I see them?" He took a breath through his nose and pulled his collar down to reveal a nasty series of cuts just below his neck. He didn't give Carissa long to see them before he released his collar again.

"Sorry but you'll have to take my word on the rest of them, I don't want to take my shirt off out here."

"So it was true." She said under her breath

"Pardon?" Carissa went straight into her next question.

"Is that why you joined that human extreme group? Your father forced you to?"

"Sort of, I knew if I didn't join he would make things worse for me." She was then quiet for a while, but Andrew didn't want to disturb her as she seemed to be thinking about something. Finally, he said "I just want you to know that I'm no longer apart of that group, when I ran away from my father I left everything behind other than the clothes on my back and my wood cutting axe."

"You may not be apart of that group anymore but that doesn't change how you feel about Faunus so tell me now, what are your opinions on Faunus and what ever you do don't lie to me." Andrew wasn't sure if she could tell if he was lying but also knew there was no reason to lie so answered with the truth.

"I don't know, until you I never met a Faunus before, all I had was what I had been told at all the rallies and they didn't give me a very nice picture to go with. I knew, even back then that it wasn't the truth but without any other information I couldn't prove otherwise so I made a promise to myself. That I would wait until I met a Faunus I would remain neutral and see what they were really like." Carissa looked uncertain so asked

"But you knew me so why did you freak out when you realised I was a Faunus?"

"Because you were Carissa the human and suddenly you became Carissa the Faunus. I wasn't ready for that and my brain… broke." He looked at her and saw she wasn't convinced but was getting there so he decided to say something he should have said when he first saw her. "Carissa, the other night was not the best night for us… I mean me and I know I said somethings that were insensitive and cruel but there was one thing I wanted to say. I couldn't say it because I lost all control of my mouth so can I say it now?" she looked over to him

"Okay let's hear it?" Andrew felt his heart rate increase, his face become warm and his palms begin to sweat. He cleared his throat and said

"You were the most beautiful person I'd ever seen and that I couldn't believe that you wanted to spend time with me when you could have been with anyone else." She was quiet but looked shocked, so he added "and you're still the most beautiful person I've ever laid my eyes upon. No matter what happens, that will never change." She looked away and he couldn't make out her face, he wasn't sure what to do next but felt so much better now that she wasn't upset anymore. He looked forward at the view of the setting sun and said

"This has been good, letting all this out. I'm also so glad that I got to apologise for how I behaved and what I said and with that I think we can leave it there. I'll let you go now and hopefully we can still be friends." Suddenly to his surprise he felt her warm lips kiss him on his cheek, the quickest peck but it was enough to stop his heart and freeze his body. He slowly turned his face to look at hers and she was smiling again, the same smile that she wore around him and somehow it was even more beautiful than before.

"I… that… so… when…" Carissa started to laugh

"Have I ever told you that I love your confused face." His face went even redder than it already was, if that was possible.

"Thanks, I think?" he said with a chuckle at the end.

"Why couldn't you have said this sooner?"

"I didn't want to hurt you again by saying something to offend you. I never want to hurt you or upset you again. If I did I would never forgive myself."

"Well you didn't this time so just do that again an I think you'll be all right."

"Well what about you? Why didn't you say you were a Faunus?"

"Because I thought you knew."

"How?" he was extremely surprised by that comment he started to go over all their time together to see if there were any signs. Carissa then said

"Well the first day we met. I thought it was obvious."

"What when I crashed into you?"

"Yeah, at that time of day the communal showers are reserved for Faunus, humans are supposed to go earlier." Andrew wasn't even aware that this was the normal.

"Right… I never knew that." Carissa dropped her head

"You really don't know anything about Faunus, do you?"

"No, but I'd like to. Especially if you are willing to teach me." It was now her turn to blush, not as much as he had done but it was noticeable. They spent the next hour discussing what Faunus were really like and Andrew couldn't believe how wrong the Human First Group had got them, by the end he felt like a fool and regretted even more what he had said to Carissa. Once the sun had completely set and the temperature started to drop then both called it a night.

"Thanks for letting me explain myself Carissa. Also let me once again say how sorry I am for how I treated you." She grabbed his hand

"It's okay, I hope that now we've been a bit more honest with each other that we can resume from where we left off."

"You mean…"

"Shall we try that first date again tomorrow night?" Andrew couldn't find the words to say so eventually settled on.

"I'd like that." With a goofy smile stuck to his face.

"Same time, I'll see you then. Don't be late." Her smile was more alluring, so Andrew nodded in agreement. With that she turned around but before she started to walk away, she brushed her tail across his face. Before he could respond she started walking.

"She's amazing." He said to himself and watched her walk away. As she did he noticed something was wrong, she was not walking any faster but everything around them began to fall away. Soon all that remained was the pair of them in total darkness, looking around Andrew panicked and try to call out to her, but nothing came but silence. So then ran as fast as he could but he never moved an inch as she move further and further away from him. Eventually she faded into darkness as well leaving him alone in a crushing void of nothingness, his heart began to race and his started to struggle to breath. Finally, the ground beneath his feet fell away and he plummeted downwards, as he did memories flooded his mind. This was when he knew he was dreaming as these were the memories that he tried everyday to keep from taking over his mind but here they were all before him. He screamed and tried to shut them out until he saw the worst memory of them all, the memory that made him who he had become.


	29. Memories and Pain

Andrew shot up in bed in pure terror, his face covered in a cold sweat while panting so heavily it was as though he was drowning before he awoke. It took nearly a minute for him to reach a point where he could focus on his surrounds through the haze covering his vision and see that he was in his bedroom. He then tried to put his hands to his face with only his real one connecting, realising his cybernetic hand was three inches to the side of his face. He started to become angry, when he was in this state he couldn't control his cybernetics as it was though they had a mind of their own. He turned to look at his right arm and concentrated on making it close its fingers but only manged to get his middle and index finger to obey.

"Fucking piece of crap!" he shouted which then caused pain to surge through his head and torso. He cried out while holding his head with his trembling left hand which brushed by his right eye. He felt warm tears on his face and then tried to wipe them away, but it only served producing more.

"Get out of my head!" he cried out as be banged the side of his head, trying to force his brain to listen to him but to no avail. Instead he swung himself out of his bed faster than he should and made an attempt to stand. His cybernetic ear piece was switching between silence and intense ringing which didn't help him, not only was this causing him pain and discomfort it was also playing hell with his equilibrium. Combining this with his cybernetic leg that was working just about as well as his arm his first attempt to stand only served in giving him more pain and a collapse back onto his bed, but this was not his main problem. His cybernetic eye and top left quarter of his face felt as though they were burning out and his mind was in such a mess that it wasn't communicating with his cybernetics, so he felt like two different people looking at the same thing with the same eyes.

He eventually got himself to his feet and hobbled over to his bench where a variety of medical pots were sitting, ignoring them he grabbed a bottle of whisky and gingerly poured himself a glass. He spilled most of it in the process while he was suffering dizzy spells but when he filled enough of the glass he then slammed the bottle back down. Without missing a beat, he took the whole glass in one shot only for his stomach to refuse it and forced it back up. He only just had enough time to get to his toilet and vomit the drink back up and then collapsed to his knees. He put his hands either side of the bowl expecting a second episode from his stomach, but it didn't come

"I hate me." Were the only words he uttered as his head continued to cause him more agony. After half an hour stuck in this position he looked over to his clock to see that it was 04:27am. He knew he had to take classes at 9 but also knew he would never be in any state to perform his duties.

"I'd better call Glynda." He said to himself but just as before he wasn't in complete control of his body and it took several minutes just to lift himself from the floor. Once standing he decided that calling Glynda now would only disturb her sleep and cause her unnecessary worry so instead he collapsed onto his bed face down.

"I'll wait till 6, then call her. I shouldn't make her suffer because I'm pathetic." He laid there for the next hour or so but no matter what he did nothing would calm his head. It was filled with pain, pain from memories that he tried every day to forget but with no luck. Tears still filled his right eye making his vision a mix between a watery view on the right and a distorted view on the left, this was making him feel sick again but with nothing else to disgorge all he did instead was convulse when he felt sick.

Finally, 06:00am came and he moved his almost lifeless body off the bed to the floor with a thud, landing on his back. The fall was only small but was made worse by his condition, the length of time felt like an entirety and the fall even greater. After another couple of minutes, he pulled himself up with his one arm that he could control and made his way to his living room. It was like walking with a peg leg for all the good his cybernetic leg was to him and his mess up balance was making him take twice as many steps to get to the same distance but once he reached his desk he could then sit down in his seat. He pulled his scroll out of his middle draw and dialled Glynda, after a few rings she picked up.

"Ah, hello." She said, it looked as though she had not long been up or maybe she had just woken up. Before Andrew could reply Glynda spoke fist "My god, Andrew are you all right?" she was now quite awake and couldn't believe who the being presented before her was. He was still covered in sweat that had drenched his shirt, his eye was bloodshot and red, his face worn out, black bag under his eye and his hair just as wet as his shirt.

"Not great." He answered, "I'm sorry Glynda but I don't think I can take my classes today, I'm struggling just trying to stand." His voice was laboured as if very breath was a chore to him.

"Don't worry Andrew, I'll deal with it and inform Ozpin immediately. I thought you were doing well, you haven't had an episode in several months. Why now? Is it because of Ironwood or something else?" Andrew didn't move or change his expression. He could tell she was worried that it might have been something she'd done to set this off so he responded with a deep breath

"I don't know Glynda. My mind is just my own worst enemy but knowing me it's something I did to myself." _No surprise there_ he thought to himself.

"I've said it before and I will say it now. You need professional help. Continuing on like this will only drive you towards insanity or worse." Andrew closed his eye and another stream on tears fell from it.

"I can't do it, it's not possible. Just give me a day and I'll be fine tomorrow, just like normal."

"You look worse than ever before, please Andrew. At least think about considering this, you have people who care for you and we can't stand to see you suffer." Andrew opened his eye and made a pathetic attempt at a half smile.

"I'll be fine, I promise. Now I mustn't keep you. Goodbye Glynda" And with that he hung up before Glynda could say anything else. To make sure she didn't try and call him again he turned his scroll off and threw it onto his desk. Looking down he saw his soaked shirt.

"I'd better get out of these." With that he picked himself up and walked as best he could towards his bathroom, feeling incredibly sick due to his increasing headaches now making him even dizzier. Every time he was like this he wished that he could just turn off his cybernetic head piece, but he had been warned against it. Shutting of that particular part of his cybernetics' while he was conscious could cause immense brain damage as they were effectively one now, he was already damaged badly so he didn't want to make it worse.

Once he reached the bathroom he took off his clothes, got into his shower and turned it on. The water was not the calming force he thought it would be, his mind was in such a terrible state that the water felt like sharp shards of boiling glass piercing him. He didn't shower long and when he got out he grabbed a towel, his cybernetics were still not playing ball, but he was slowly getting them back under control. He dried himself off as best he could but as he did he catch sight of himself in the mirror and froze still, the reflection he could see was not the man he used to be. He longed for the time when he was whole, the man that he used to be in every way shape and form but now he was an ugly freak of nature. A literal tin-man.

Before he nearly started heaving at his own appearance he went to his bedroom to get some clothes on. He only manged to get some underwear and trousers on before his body began to turn against him again.

"Bugger it, not like I'm going anywhere." He said and went to lie back down on his bed but this time facing the ceiling. For the rest of the day he simply laid there and started to put his mind back together. It was a long and painful process as he had to go through his memories and put them back into the corner of his mind where he could lock them away. Every now and then he would test his brain as he commanded his cybernetic limbs to move where he wanted them to. They got better every time but it would be a long while until he was capable of moving them like before so he continued with his mental cleansing.

After some hours, he reached a point where he could get up out of bed and begin moving around. It had been so long that he only noticed now how hungry he was so he moved slowly and methodically to his kitchen area and made himself some soup and cut up some bread. Once done he went to his desk to eat it, he didn't rush it as he definitely didn't want a repeat of this morning. While eating, he saw the time on the clock on his wall.

"14:54. It took longer than I thought." When he was like this all sense of time was lost to him so he was always surprised to see what time it was when he was starting to feel better. He finished his meal and sat back in his chair when there was a knock at the door which puzzled Andrew as no one would come to see him, Glynda would make sure of that.

He stood up and walked over to the door with a hobble, thankful that his ear piece wasn't malfunctioning anymore as he still couldn't move his cybernetic knee the way he wanted to. He reached the door and opened it believing he would see Glynda on the other side wanting to finish the conversation they started earlier. Before the door was fully open he had already started talking

"Look Glynda, I'm fine. Honestly I've already started to…..." he stopped when his gaze didn't meet Glynda but instead the top of a young girl's head. Her hair seemed black but in the light the red shone through which made him sigh.

"Miss Rose, what are you doing here?" he asked tilting his head down with a disapproving look.

"Well sir...erm…I thought…...you know…...you might erm…... well, Professor Goodwitch said…...you weren't feeling…...good…so I thought..." Andrew continued staring at her then remembered he wasn't wearing a shirt. He looked down then back to Ruby who was rather embarrassed. He rolled his head

"I'd better put a shirt on then." And he turned away from the door while leaving it open. It took a while before she walked in after him and then shut the door. Andrew was still only hobbling so hadn't gotten very far.

"Are your cybernetics playing up professor?" she asked. Andrew stopped.

"In a manner of speaking yes, they are not on good terms with my brain today." And he continued walking.

"Professor?" she asked so Andrew stopped again

"Yes."

"Does it hurt?" Andrew took a deep breath. She had seen nearly the whole extent of his wounds. His abdomen was almost all cybernetics, there were plates running up his spine to his neck connecting his parts together as well as his arm and face. Unfortunately, his original body was still covered in scars and burns from his past life as a hunter but also from his life before.

"No different than awkward conversations with uninvited students." She stopped looking at him and went quiet. Andrew turned around to face her. "Look Miss Rose I appreciate that you've come to see how I am but I'm fine really." He knew he wasn't very convincing as Ruby said

"Not from what I've heard. Oops!" she then covered up her mouth and Andrew gave her a look that could turn a person to stone.

"What was that?" he gave her the impression that he was not going to let that one drop. She started to stammer but nothing came out. Eventually she buckled under his gaze.

"Well I heard from Velvet that this isn't the first time you've been off due to unexplained illness." Andrew hadn't realised that his health was the source for idle gossip between students.

"Well sorry for the inconvenience I make for you all over this but as you're all aware, I'm not a normal person." She looked uneasy, knowing that she had touched a sore subject so Andrew reluctantly sighed and added, "I wouldn't want anyone to suffer like this, especially my students. I hope and pray that none of you ever have to experience it this." before he could continue the door went again so instead he raised his finger and pointed at her.

"I'm not finished with you yet." and hobbled back to the door to open it, Ruby was about to move to the door herself but Andrew just waved her back. As he pulled the door open he saw another uninvited guest before him

"Greetings Professor Tinman. I hope that I'm not bothering you but I heard you were not well so came to see if there was anything I could do for you." Weiss was now standing at the door in a very formal manner but had yet to truly look at Andrew although when she did she did take a sharp inhale. Few people saw him like this and each time their reaction was the same which he could understand but still made him feel uneasy.

"Well I could do without you staring at me like that, I'm not a side show at the circus." She immediately returned to her formal stance.

"I'm sorry sir." His head fell so he was looking down at the floor.

"Come in." Andrew reluctantly said and returned to walking back to his room to get a shirt. As Weiss walked in and closed the door Andrew pointed towards Ruby

"I believe you know my other guest." Weiss looked over to Ruby and sighed

"I should have known you'd be here." Ruby laughed back

"And why are you here? Trying to suck up to Professor Tinman."

"No, I'm not! I'm merely here to offer some assistance to a person that may need it."

"Oh, and get some extra credit as well?" Ruby said while smiling. Before Weiss could retaliate Andrew stopped moving again.

"I don't much care why you are both here but I would like to know how you both know where I lived?" they stopped bickering but once again a knock came at the door.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me." Andrew said, annoyance filling his voice and almost marched back to the door and opened it for a third time. Standing there in the door way this time was Blake.

"Hello professor, I came to see how you were doing?" unlike Ruby and Weiss, Blake didn't stare at him and acted civil, something he was not used to. _I suppose that Blake of all people knows not to judge someone by their appearance_ he thought. Without saying anything he returned inside the room causing Blake to second guess what was going on until she saw Ruby and Weiss. She sighed and walked in

"I thought you were both busy?" she asked them and they looked at each other slightly embarrassed.

"And I thought you all had classes so why are you here anyway?" Andrew questioned.

"This is the time we should have been in your class Professor so technically we have a free period." Weiss replied. Andrew half smiled when he realised and nodded at the same time.

"So even when you have free time you still come and bother me." The girls all shuffled on their feet.

"If you'd rather that we leave then all you have to do is say." Blake sounded let down in her tone of voice and Andrew felt a small twinge of guilt. He wasn't trying to be rude but simple didn't want anyone to see him like this, he was ashamed and always tried to create an image of someone who was in control. As he turned to look at them he sighed while feeling grateful that they did seem to be concerned about his well-being.

"Its not that, I'm grateful that you all would come here and try to help me feel better it's just that I'm not very comfortable with my condition so wouldn't want to make anyone go through it as well. Just ask Professor Goodwitch or Headmaster Ozpin."

"Have they been to see you as well professor?" Weiss questioned.

"No. I prefer it that way." They were both his friends and he cared deeply for them however he also knew what they would say to him if they were here which would annoy him even more. Now Ruby looked glum

"So you do want us to go then?" Andrew hated being himself, it was almost like no matter what he said he would offend someone. _Some things never change._ Looking at her face she looked just like she did when she first met him but now he felt sorry not angry.

"Argh… you can stay if you want to. But not too long, I do have things I need to do today." Ruby changed her look to her usual happy smile which Andrew almost found infectious. Suddenly yet another knock came from the door interrupting his train of thought. "I wonder who that could be!" he said sarcastically and walked back to the door, not noticing that he was in far more control of his leg, moving it in a more natural manner. He flung open the door so fast he almost took it off its hinges and said

"Miss Xiao Long, what a surprise to see you here!" Yang was taken aback by Andrew's words but remained her normal self.

"What up teach! Thought I'd drop by and see how you were doing" she was still smiling the whole time. "hay nice body, is that what Professor Port looks like under his suit?" Andrew laughed as that image crossed his mind and he waved her in. Once Yang was inside and saw the rest of her team she asked

"So what's going on here then? A little "Private Teaching session" professor?" her voice was sly and Andrew knew what she was getting at but just walked over to his desk

"You are so vulgar Yang, we are here to see if Professor Tinman was all right and if we could help him." Weiss said

"Yeah!" came Ruby's voice from behind Weiss

"More likely you were looking to kiss up to a teacher for better marks." Blake said

"Hay! Why does everyone think that." Andrew then cleared his throat a lot louder than necessary to gain all their attentions. They all looked in his direction at once as he gestured for them to sit down on the sofa and chair in his living room in front of his desk. They complied and did as they were advised

"Now then ladies before I begin can I just ask, should I be expecting any other students arriving at my door in the next couple of minutes?" they all shook their heads so Andrew continued, "Good now back to a question I asked some of you earlier but now the whole team is here I'll ask it again. How did you find out where I lived?" They all made glances at each other before Blake answered for the group.

"Professor Ozpin told us." Andrew shot his head up to the ceiling and burst out laughing making the girls slightly uneasy.

"Of course, he did! He must really get annoyed with me when I'm like this. Did he tell you to come here as well?" this time Yang answered

"Not exactly. He said that you were not feeling yourself, but when you're around familiar faces it might help you get back to normal a little bit quicker." She was so cheerful that Andrew found it difficult to be angry at her. He sighed as he rested his head in his left hand then said

"So, because I won't let him in, he sends the next best thing." He tired to say it under his breath, but it must have been a little louder than he thought as Blake asked

"He didn't send us, well not really. We all choose to come here on our own." Andrew half smiled at that thought, they wouldn't have come if Ozpin hadn't said that. Also giving them, his flat's location couldn't have hurt either. Even when he's not around he's trying to help me, in that case it would be rude to send them away too soon so he then asked them

"Anyone want a drink?"

"Good call teach! Strawberry sunrise for me."

"I was thinking more like a hot drink. I'm not giving any of you alcohol, that's going to get me into a lot of trouble. So, who's for what?" as he got up out of his chair

"Ah no fair. In that case I'll have a coffee."

"Me too professor." Said Weiss

"Tea for me please." Asked Blake

"Have you got any hot chocolate?" inquired Ruby. Andrew paused on his way to the kitchen area

"Yes I have actually, I keep it for emergencies like this." The girls were not sure if he was being sarcastic or not until he reached the kitchen and pulled out a tin of chocolate powder from a hidden shelf.

"You hide your hot chocolate?" Weiss asked

"You would be surprised how many people would ask for it if they knew I had it."

"Can I change my order to hot chocolate teach?" Yang called out. Andrew sighed again.

"Any other order changes before I start?" he said as he grabbed the kettle.

"No thank you" came Weiss and Blake's reply at the same time. As Andrew started to prepare the orders Ruby got up out of her seat and walked over to the other side of the room to where there was a display box hanging from the wall.

"Wow! Professor is this yours?!" Andrew took a quick look at what she was referring to. That's when he saw it, his old weapon.

"Yes, it is Miss Rose. That was my axe "Soul Splitter", as much a hunter as I am."

"it looks amazing! Did you make it yourself?"

"He's the only thing I have from my life before I was a hunter, I didn't make him but I did modify him to be a dangerous weapon." The kettle was beginning to steam away now.

"Why is it in that case?" asked Weiss, Andrew lowered his head

"Because he belongs to a hunter that doesn't exist anymore." The girls noticed the twinge in his voice, he sounded almost ashamed of that fact.

"Surely you don't believe that." Blake said, trying to bring Andrew back from his current state.

"Yeah! You're still a hunter as good as any other, better I'd say. The way how you humiliated Cardin proves you still got it in you." Andrew just laughed at Yang's comment.

"Yes, because I can beat a hunter in training I've still got it. Trust me, anyone could have beaten Mr Winchester. But thanks for the vote of confidence, nice to know I can still impress. Unfortunately, he was right about one thing, I'm a failed hunter." Now the water was ready, he began pouring out the beverages. He was slow and deliberate because he was only using his left hand, knowing that his right was still in no condition to be doing any pouring, especially if hot water was involved.

"Would you like some help sir?" asked Blake

"No, thank you though. I've got this." He answered and once done he took them on a tray to the girls who each thanked him in turn.

"Professor, may I ask you something?" Weiss said as she took her cup and Andrew waited for her to continue. "Is your condition to do with your cybernetics?"

"That's a very personal subject Miss Schnee." Andrew replied, and she looked away from him. He took a breath and added "They're a symptom but not the main cause. I'll be fine by tomorrow."

"So, professor do you think you could…...you know…. Put a shirt on… like now?" Ruby asked timidly. Andrew looked down at himself and half smiled forgetting that he still hadn't done that.

"Alright, I think you've got a point." He said and walked off to his bedroom

"Hay she's not speaking for all of us, I say your fine as you are teach. Not like putting a shirt on will do anything now." Yang said and made a growling noise after she spoke.

"I have to agree with Ruby, it's not slightly for a man to appear shirtless before a lady." Added Weiss to Ruby's comment. Blake turned to Weiss and smiled

"If it really bothered you then why not say anything earlier?" Weiss went bright red and looked back to Blake.

"Well he was making us our drinks and I thought it wouldn't matter till after he finished!" she was trying to defend herself.

"O.K but you didn't have to watch him the whole time he was doing it. It was like you thought he would disappear if you looked away." Still getting redder Weiss stuttered to make an excuse until Yang spoke up

"You dirty girl Weiss! Do you have all your butlers make you coffee shirtless or is this a secret pleasure of yours?" Weiss was so shocked at this she was almost completely red and had no help from her partner who was laughing hysterically at the whole situation.

Meanwhile Andrew was putting a shirt on in his bedroom and could hear the commotion and couldn't help but laugh to himself. When he entered the living room again Weiss was still in a state, standing and shouting at her team mates.

"I'm not a pervert! I don't have any fetishes like that at all!"

"I'm glad to hear that Miss Schnee, a lady of your position should hold herself in high regard." Weiss span round so quick she nearly fell over. All the other girls were all laughing at her and Andrew suppressed his laugh into a half-smile but it took a lot of will to keep it that way. Once everyone had calmed down Weiss tried to change the subject after she had sat down.

"I had no idea your cybernetics where so…extensive professor. I wouldn't have known by the way you act and hold yourself."

"Well thank you Miss Schnee, I do try and keep them functioning at optimal efficiency. I have little choice but its nice to know I seem to all around me somewhat normal." This caused Yang to laugh

"I wouldn't say normal teach. I've not met a single professor here that I would call normal." Andrew nodded

"Fair point." He said as he conceded.

"Are you sure you will be all right sir? You still don't look well." Blake was considerate in her tone of voice, so Andrew half smiled.

"Trust me I'll be fine. I take it that you all know that this isn't a one off for me so remember I've been through this before and will most likely do it again."

"Can you get any help for it?" asked Ruby

"Not really, it's an old huntsman wound and before any of you ask I'm not telling you. Everyone has their secrets that they keep." This was a non-to subtle hint to change the topic of conversation which Ruby went with.

"So what was your team like? You must have had one." She asked and Andrew felt a cool chill run up his spine, he had only just got his mind back in order and he really didn't want to disrupt it by opening that complaint up so soon.

"Yeah, we had a theory you were in a team with Professor's Oobleck, Port and Goodwitch since you all get along so well. Not sure what your name would have been though." Yang was pondering this while Andrew was trying his hardest to keep a straight face.

"Piggyback (PGBA)!" Ruby shouted out while looking very pleased with herself.

"No, just no." Weiss said as she shook her head disapprovingly.

"It works, sort off."

"I refuse to believe a team would exist call PGBA. It's is simply too stupid."

"Also it doesn't have any association with colour so wouldn't be allowed." Blake said as matter of fact. Ruby was about to argue this until Andrew said.

"It's not too far from the truth though actually." All four of the girls then turned to look at him.

"Which part? The team or the name?" Blake asked. Andrew finally broke with a short laugh

"Neither but your faces made me feel better." After a brief pause he took a long and deep breath. "Why are you all so interested in my old team?"

"Because we are!" Yang was insistent on that answer

"What Yang is trying to say is that every hunter has a team and you must be a part of one." Weiss was being more professional about asking the question.

"They're just hunters like any others." Andrew still tried to make them drop this line of questioning by making them sound boring and dull.

"No they're not because you are a member of that team! They must be amazing if they're anything like you!" Andrew really was surprised by how far Ruby had come with him and once again couldn't refuse the request.

"Well if you're that interested then I guess I can tell you about them."

"Cool! This will be great!" Yang exclaimed as she moved to the edge of her seat and cupped her mug in both hands. Andrew sat back in his chair and began to think about how best to describe them.

"Right where do I begin, well my team was called team CULA. It was led by my partner Chris Lionheart who is the son of Professor Lionheart of Haven academy, then there was Ulysses Straw who is my best friend and finally Lauren Tornade who is someone I love and hate equally." This made Yang laugh.

"Okay start with her. Please!" She was fairly excited to hear about her so Andrew obliged.

"You would like her Miss Xiao Long, she's a strong woman who didn't take anything from anyone. Even if it was good advice from her team mates. I don't think I've ever met a more loud or annoying person in my life." After he said the last part he glanced at Ruby. "But some people have come very close." Ruby looked a little embarrassed but also smiled as Andrew carried on talking. "I'm pretty sure we would have killed each other if we'd not been on the same time."

"How did she feel about you?" asked Blake

"The same, it was a mutual love hate. In battle though we put it aside and I found out she was a demon in woman form. Her weapon of choice were her bright red boots she called her Cramoisi Chaussons, they were bladed boots and packed with dust cartridges. When combined with her semblance which allowed her to create powerful wind currents and blasts, she was more dangerous than an enraged beowolf. Her kicks were both fiery and powerful, something I would never willingly want to be on the end of."

"I bet she could beat you easily, with all respect teach." Andrew half smiled at Yang's comment but conceded the point with a shrug.

"What about your partner Chris Lionheart? I have heard of his father at Haven, they're a prestigious hunting family are they not?" Weiss asked.

"Indeed, his family have a long-standing tradition of being hunters and he is the current generations one. When we first met and before I realised his heritage I knew there was something off between us, guess class is more ingrained into people than I thought. However, he never let it come between us as he's a kind and caring person as well as a truly inspiring leader, no one could have led our team but him."

"I would have thought you would have been the leader sir, you seem well suited to the job." Andrew laughed before answering Weiss.

"Hell no. I'm sure our team would have failed the entrance exam if I was in charge." Thinking back on it he knew that was true as it was Chris that got them out of the entanglement with the Beringel but he wouldn't tell them that. "He was fair to all of us and if we ever fell out of line then his punishment was enough to put us back on track."

"What did he do?" Ruby seemed far too interested in that part.

"He sat on us." He kept a straight face the whole time and he was met with very confused faces from all the girls.

"He…. Sat on you?" Blake was not sure how to take that at all.

"Well considering his semblance was density control. He could change his weight at will, so it would feel like a Goliath had fallen on you."

"You must be joking." Weiss was obviously thinking he was trying to be funny again however Ruby did believe it.

"Did he ever sit on you?" she said through a chuckle. Andrew smiled

"Once or twice." This made her laugh more. "He rarely used it in combat though, he was an accomplished fighter without it, he knew several forms of martial arts and his Leo Ungues gauntlets were designed to deliver quick and precise attacks that could down an opponent in seconds."

"So what about your best friend? What made him so special?" Andrew turned towards Blake who had asked the question and sighed.

"Because he never gave up on me, even when everyone else thought I was a lost cause."

"What do you mean?" Ruby's question was innocent but before he could answer Yang did for him.

"Come on Ruby, he's telling us about his team mates not his problems." Andrew smiled and shook his head before continuing.

"Indeed, I would keep all of you for weeks if I carried on about my issues so, where was I? Ah yes, Ulysses. If you ever saw him you wouldn't think he was a huntsman, a scrawny, scruffy looking guy who weighed 60 pounds soaking wet."

"How did he become a hunter then?" Yang asked.

"Because he was smart. Insanely smart. Not matter what class we attended he already knew everything the professors had to tell us. He should have been teaching them."

"Okay but being smart is one thing but if he's really that weak looking them how's he supposed to fight Grimm?"

"With his E.X.O suit he called Tattie Bogal. It made him faster, stronger, and far more durable than any of us. He effectively became a one-man army when he activated it and only his intelligence could have come up with it." His face changed to a look of disgust when he spoke next. "I bet those mechs that Atlas have created are based off his design. I'd love to know when they got the idea for them from."

"He could have collaborated with the Atlas military to create them. It might not have necessarily been copied from him." Andrew sighed as Weiss had a point, but he knew Ulysses better than anyone and knew he wouldn't have done it lightly.

"He sounds awesome! I'd love to meet him!" Ruby lit up at the thought of seeing his designs in person.

"A weapon designer and a weapon nut. Yeah you two would probably blow up a city if you met."

"That suit seems quite advance for a teenager to build. How did he do it?"

"That's because of his semblance Miss Belladonna." Andrew's tone went sombre when he spoke, and Blake noticed instantly.

"His semblance? Was it that bad?" now all the other girls were listening intently.

"Not bad just…. awkward. All of you have a semblance that you can activate and deactivate at will, but Ulysses, like a few other hunters I know, can't ever turn his off."

"What was it?" Andrew took a breath before answering Yang as he thought of the best way to explain it.

"He could see how everything worked." From that all the girls looked confused.

"Er what?"

"Okay imagine having the ability to see how anything could work like engines, computers and vehicles. You could see how every part moved and worked with the others." Ruby still looked puzzled

"I don't see the problem yet."

"Now apply that to a vid screen, instead of seeing your favourite show you instead see the circuitry that makes the screen work with no picture."

"That would be annoying but not too bad I suppose." She still wasn't getting it so he tried another example.

"Okay how about another person. We see only the outside but Ulysses, he would see the inner working of the human body, the circulatory system, digestion and all other bodily functions." He saw it got through to her mind now. After a brief pause she said

"Ewwwww." Andrew nodded.

"The only way he could get through any day without going mad was to wear specially designed glasses with lenses so thick that it blocked it from going any further." All of them looked uneasy as they too thought about all the other problems that would cause. To reassure them he added "But it worked to his advantage, because he could see what would work he could come up with some amazing inventions."

"Sounds like you had a pretty good team." Blake said with a smile.

"But what about you teach? What were you like when you were younger and what's your semblance?" Andrew half smiled before answering Yang's question.

"Sorry but I'm not that interesting and as for my semblance you'll have to figure that out yourself."

"Ah I see, not as good as the rest of your team. No problem teach, we still love you."

"Believe what you want to believe Miss Xiao Long. For all you know I could just have the ability to change colour but mark my words, if you ever see it then I can assure you it will knock you on your ass before you could blink."

"Yeah whatever teach." She didn't take him seriously and Andrew could see he still had a long way to go to teach her how to be a proper huntress. Now Weiss had a question.

"So, Professor you must have some stories you can tell us from your hunting days with your team?"

"Hoping for some more shirtless action Weiss!" Yang said with a wink. Weiss was not impressed so before anything else erupted Andrew spoke

"Indeed, I have many stories but I'm not like professor Port. I let my action speak louder than my words and aim to be a humbler hunter."

"Come on professor, it would be a change to hear from another experienced hunter. We've all heard Professor Port's stories three times over." Ruby encouraged. He knew how she felt, Peter like to tell everyone his exploits of his younger years to the point that they could recount it back to him perfectly. He decided to see if he could give them another story to listen to for a change.

"Well…... there is one story I could tell you but promise me that you'll never tell Ozpin about it. To this day he still can't prove it one way or the other."

"What did you do?" asked Yang who was now intrigued by this story.

"It happened back when I was a student at Beacon, me and my team went out to a Faunus friendly nightclub one evening and things got a bit… crazy."

"Faunus friendly? Why did you go there?" Weiss questioned.

"Simple, I had friends who were Faunus and they were not allowed in certain night clubs so we all went to one where we could all go. That whole segregation thing makes me sick, human or Faunus we are all the same in the end and both deserve to live in a world free from intolerance. Sadly, that is not the case, but I still believe that it could happen one day." Looking at them he saw Ruby, Weiss and Yang look towards Blake who herself looked down at the thought of intolerance in the world.

"Seeing you four together is how I want the world to be, regardless of race or standing that we can all live as one." He looked over to Blake and as she looked up at him she remembered the private story he had told her and knew her wish was one shared by him.

"Well we agree with you professor of course but none of us know what you mean about us!" Ruby shouted in a flush and Andrew then realised that Blake must not have told them that he knew she was a Faunus. Weiss and Yang looked considerably uneasy and Ruby hadn't made them any better.

"It's all right Ruby, professor Tinman knows" Blake said to reassure her friends, Yang and Weiss now relaxed more so Andrew then took a breath to start his story.

"Well if you want to know the story, I'd better start at the beginning."


	30. A Song I will always Remember

Andrew returned to his dorm room hoping it would be vacant after the days classes, but no such luck, sitting on her bed was Lauren who was looking through one of her text books with a notepad of her own while twirling a pen between her fingers. She gave Andrew a quick look

"Evening" was all she said and then carried on reading. He hadn't said anything to his team about the night before and for some reason it had made Chris and Lauren very angry.

"Yeah, evening" Andrew wanted the room to be empty because he knew as soon as he got changed, Lauren would start asking questions and she wouldn't let up. "You going to be here all evening?" Andrew asked

"That was the plan, just waiting for Ulysses to get back from dinner and then he's going to help me with some homework. I'm not too good at history." She said feeling slightly down about it.

"Right…... so Ulysses will be back then." Lauren looked up from her book and stared at Andrew.

"Yes, it would be a bit difficult to teach me if he's not in the room wouldn't it."

"Fair enough, in that case I'll…. I'll leave you two to it. Just let me get some clothes and I'll go have a shower. You won't want me around distracting you." Lauren raised an eyebrow and then closed her book onto her bed.

"We have a shower right here, why are you going to the communal showers? Also, since when do you care about disturbing us? For the last week you've barely manged a few full sentences to any of us and now your acting normal. Well normal for you anyway. What are you up to?"

"Nothing! Just want to be more considerate, you all say I'm selfish so I'm going to leave you alone while you study." Lauren then got up off her bed and walked over to Andrew, not breaking eye contact.

"Who are you and where is sulky?" Andrew's head fell back, and he let out a growl.

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" Lauren then smiled and nodded her head.

"O.K so I know it's really you. Didn't want to embarrass you again by pinning you into submission."

"That'll never happen again, I don't get tricked twice." Lauren chuckled then said

"We'll see about that. But for now, the question is why are you acting so strangely?" before Andrew could oppose her the door to the room was flung open followed by Chris and Ulysses entering.

"Ah thank goodness you've arrived! Andrew is behaving weirdly again!" Chris tilted his head and looked at Andrew then back to Lauren.

"He is Andrew, he behaves weirdly to start with."

"Well he's even weirder tonight! On a scale of 1 to 10 he's weirdy Mcweirdo!" Ulysses took a step around Chris to look at Andrew.

"He looks normal to me. Are you sure there is something wrong?"

"YES! Look he's talking about being considerate, to me, of all people!" Chris and Ulysses shocked expressions said it all.

"Oh for fuck sake, I just wanted to shower in peace, so I was going to shower in the communal showers that way I wouldn't make a fuss in here!" Chris looked at Ulysses and said

"Lauren's got a point, there's something not right here." And he started to walk circles around Andrew

"I do not understand? He seems to be fine to me, Andrew likes his peace and quiet so what if he wants to wash elsewhere."

"Thank you!" Andrew shouted. Chris was still circling him but started to smile.

"You want peace and quiet, but you'll go to the communal showers with everyone else to do it whereas showering here is more private and you'll get your peace and quiet more easily. You've already showered this morning so two in one day is unheard of for you. You've not been to the gym because you always work out to the point that you can no longer stand, it would be obvious that you had been and need another shower." Andrew's breathing was getting heavier as his annoyance grew. Chris caught wind of this and after spending a few months with Andrew as his partner had managed to pin some of his quirks. Suddenly he started laughing

"Oh, you big softy! You did meet Carissa last night didn't you! I thought you just went for a long walk but no, you made up didn't you!?" Andrew went completely red and tried to hide it behind his hand. Lauren let out a squeal and tapped her feet several times just as Ulysses clicked onto what was going on.

"You mean you spoke with Carissa last night when you went out?! This is fantastic news!"

"Would you all please shut up and let me get on with my evening." Andrew said through his hand already knowing that they wouldn't do as he asked.

"No no no no no no no! No! You must spill now, what happened? Why did she give you another chance? How did you NOT screw it up this time?!" Before Andrew literally started snarling Chris intervened by putting his arm around Lauren

"He's got plenty of time to tell us another day but as you can see he's got an important date this evening and that's going to slow him down by telling us." Andrew was relieved that Chris was there to keep Lauren under control but still wanted some private time to get ready without being questioned while he was doing it.

"I guess I'm free to go then?" he asked casually figuring that he was going to get what he wanted.

"Not exactly." Chris said with a sly smile. Andrew looked at him with a defeated face

"What then?"

"What are you going to wear?" Andrew looked at his school uniform then remembered he didn't really have many casual clothes. He shrugged. "What about where you're planning on going?" another answer he'd not considered. His silence said all it needed to

"Oh dear, you're hopeless" Lauren said while still having the biggest smile on her face "Bet you've not even thought about how to do your hair and I doubt you have anything to make you smell better. She's going to have a VERY interesting evening, poor girl."

"Thank you for reminding me of that, it's not like I'm reminded every day that I'm not a normal person." Andrew replied, and Lauren laughed hard

"Like any of us are!" After a few seconds of silence, the room erupted in laughter from all of them as the realisation that indeed none of them truly knew what normal was or if it could even exist. Once calm Chris spoke up

"Right with that out of the way how about you let us give you a hand in preparation for tonight." Andrew looked over to his partner and was about to argue but decided that he did need some help, he'd never been in this situation so he reluctantly nodded. "Good, glad you saw reason. Didn't really want to force you into this. Sitting on you until you saw sense might have put you in the wrong mood for your first date." The thought of that punishment made Andrew snort as he remembered the last time he did that. It was not only humiliating but ended up being more painful than he thought possible. "So, what clothes do you have?"

"Two sets of school uniforms, my armour and two sets of casual wear." Lauren's eyes widened

"Really! Ulysses has more clothes than that and he's hardly got anything either!"

"Well that is not fair. I have what I need to get by." Ulysses interrupted. Chris raised a hand to stop them from carrying on with that line of conversation.

"First things first, you go and shower but use ours not the communal one. We are going to need to keep an eye on you. While you're doing that, Ulysses go and see Tia and Qrow and see if they've got anything suitable that Andrew can borrow for his night out while me and Lauren get him looking right." Andrew tilted his head and was about to open his mouth but once again he didn't say anything.

"I will go there right now! I will be as quick as I can!" and in a flash Ulysses had flown out of the door without even closing it behind him.

"He can get quick excitable when he wants to be." Chris sighed then turned to Andrew. "Right, You. Shower. Now" and pointed at the bathroom door.

"No need to get bossy, I'm going." He then went into the bathroom, shut the door, and had his shower. All the while he was in there he thought about what he was going to do this evening as he hadn't thought about anything that his team had asked him about. This started to make him increasingly more nervous about the evenings events for he didn't want her to be unhappy or disappointed with it after all he went through to get a second chance. He showered a lot longer than he originally intended but when he finally got out he began to dry himself off and then put a towel around his waist.

"Right, all clean. What next?" he called out to the room next door. The door slowly opened, and Chris came in with a pile of clothes.

"Great, so here are some of Tia's clothes and a few or Qrow's that we think would fit you and look like something that suits you." Andrew couldn't make out what was specifically in the pile as it all looked like a mess to him.

"Oh fun. Anything I should try first?"

"Well it's up to you because after all, you'll have to wear it, but it needs to impress Carissa. You know her better than me, so you should know what to put on to that affect." Andrew grabbed the clothes and put them down on a towel stand.

"I'd better start going through them. Going to give me some privacy?" Chris then left the room and closed the door leaving Andrew to change in peace. As he properly looked through them he found that most were far more colourful and flamboyant than he was comfortable with, none of them seem to suit him at all. It wasn't until he found a black short sleeved shirt that he started to put something together that looked like something he would wear. Coupled with some darker blue jeans and a back shirt with some kind of white picture on it which he couldn't figure out due it being faded, he began to get dressed. As Andrew stood there buttoning up his shirt, he heard Someone enter the bathroom and hoped that it wasn't Lauren. To his relief it was Chris, so he carried on getting ready.

"So far so good." Chris seemed impressed

"Glad you approve."

"I'm only thinking of what Carissa would say. Can you promise me something about tonight though?" Andrew turned his head in acknowledgement "Think before you speak this time, I doubt you'll get a second chance."

"Seeing as you got me the first chance, I didn't think it would work again." Chris sighed

"Ah. I see that she told you about that." He didn't sound very sure about that as Andrew kept eye contact with him to the point that Chris had to look away. Andrew ran his hand over his face and replied

"You told her some very personal information about me. Things that I wasn't ready to tell her, or more likely that I never wanted to tell her." Chris was about to speak but thought against it after a moment. Andrew kept talking "You went behind my back with that, I trusted you like Ulysses and Lauren to keep that a secret."

"You have to understand that I never wanted to break that trust, I only wanted her know why it had happened." Andrew raised his hand to stop Chris from saying anymore and with a sigh of his own he then said

"But I'm glad that you did." Chris smiled as Andrew continued "I owe this to you, I don't think I'll very be able to thank you for what you've done for me. So, I'll say thanks as a start and consider a favour owed and I'll go from there." Chris moved over to him

"Don't worry about it. Like I told you, we're brothers, and brothers look out for one another." He offered out his hand to which Andrew took and ended with a hug. It was only brief as Andrew then said

"Although I would appreciate that you not go telling anyone else things about my past. It's a sensitive issue." Chris nodded

"Sure, it'll never happen again, promise."

"Good. But there is one more thing I need to do." Chris waited for the next response which was a hard punch to the gut that knock all the wind out of him. He fell to the floor and looked up at Andrew startled so he enlightened him

"That was for breaking my trust in the first place. I'm sure you won't do it again now but consider it incentive not to do it." Chris sat there holding his gut for a few seconds then wheezed out a laugh.

"Fine. I guess I deserved that one, but I wish I knew about that before, I'd have used the favour you offered me to not have received it." Andrew held out his hand with a smile to help his partner up which Chris took and was pulled back to his feet.

"Just a friendly reminder not to betray my trust again." Andrew knew that Chris would never do it again and that he only did it for his own good, but he needed him to understand how he felt about him doing it. There are some things in this world that need to be said by the person that they are about and not second hand by others.

Chris then left Andrew to finish getting dressed. When he was finished he looked at himself in the mirror and sighed

"This isn't going to go down well." He glanced back at all the other clothes and realised that this was indeed the best choice for him that didn't look stupid on him. As he was about to leave he noticed some of Chris' aftershave bottles and wondered if he should put some on. He grabbed a bottle and sprayed some on him from the first bottle he saw and immediately regretted it as the smell wasn't pleasant and seemed to seep into his skin. After a few coughs he put the bottle down and left the bathroom to get away from the smell.

When he walked outside he received some mixed responses from his team mates, Chris looked unimpressed and Ulysses was the complete opposite with Lauren only laughing at what she could see.

"Okay, what's wrong?" he asked the room.

"You look weird!" was all Lauren would say between laughs.

"I can't believe after going through all of those clothes that you choose all the darkest colours. Actually, I don't know why I'm surprised as that is the only colour scheme that you seem to like."

"You're the one who said go with what works and I think that this does."

"Indeed, it does Andrew! I think that you look great!" Andrew turned to Ulysses and smiled

"Thanks Ulysses, that means a lot coming from you." With a sigh Chris said

"Very well then, if that's how you want to look then that's fine with us. So have you thought about where you want to take her yet?" Before Andrew could answer Chris then had a perplexed look on his face "Did you use some of my aftershave?"

"Maybe." Chris put his head in his hands

"Did you wash in it or something because you reek of it so strongly that I'm sure that everyone in Vale will be able to smell you!"

"I only sprayed about ten or twenty squirts." Chris whimpered through his hands as Ulysses said

"That is just a tad too much." All the while Lauren laughed but then started to cough from the fumes that were emanating from Andrew.

"You smell like a dust station" With him getting increasingly redder he said

"Can I wash it off?"

"Yes, but you don't have time for yet another shower! You'll just have to hope she doesn't notice." Andrew could tell he was embarrassed for him.

"Let me sort your hair at least! It looks like a hay stack like that and I can't look at it anymore!" after putting on a scarf over her face she grabbed him by the arm and started to get to work making his hair look more presentable. With all the time he had spent getting ready he had some time to think about where to take her.

"As I was about to say earlier, I think we'll go and get some food from one of those Mistral style places. I know she like that food the most and after that I'm thinking of going somewhere… else?" he suddenly went blank.

"Aww, you had such a promising start." Lauren chuckled

"Well what else does she like?" Andrew looked over to Chris

"She likes dancing."

"Okay that's something. Why not go with that?"

"Because I'm not much of a dancer." Lauren laughed

"That sounds like you!"

"Haha. I don't know if you recall but I didn't do a lot of dancing growing up."

"So what? Dancing is easy, just sway and tap your feet. I'm sure that will suffice." Andrew gave her a glare which she responded by sticking her tongue out at him.

"I'm sure that will be impressive." Chris then intervened

"What ever you decide on doing, as long as you and Carissa are together and enjoy yourselves then that's all that will matter." Soon enough Lauren was done with Andrew's hair she said

"Ta'da!" he didn't seem to think it looked any different, instead of it being a mess sitting down it was now a mess standing up. He then stood up and looked over to Ulysses and Chris.

"Am I ready to go yet?" Ulysses and Chris looked to each other and then back to him and in unison said

"As good as you can be." Andrew then sighed with relief and walk towards the door.

"I'll see you all later then, wish me luck." And with that he left the dorm room with a terrified look in his eyes. The three of them went silent for a moment and then Ulysses spoke

"I am a little worried about him. If he says the wrong think again then I don't think we will be able to bring him around again."

"You've got a point, I'm somewhat worried for him too." Chris sounded concerned for his friend and he and Ulysses stood looking at the now closed door. Lauren then spoke up from the other side of the room as she removed her scarf.

"If you're that worried about him then why don't we tag along with him. You know, watch from the side lines and if he does anything stupid and let's face it, he will, then we can step in." Chris looked back to her and smiled.

"He'll hate us for doing that, but I think you've got the right idea."

"So, we are going too then?" Ulysses asked which Chris and Lauren replied with a chuckling smile.

When Andrew reached the meeting point he was still panicking over his now alien appearance, shocking hair, and powerful aroma. Now he was so different that if he saw his reflection he was certain he wouldn't recognise himself. He was so lost in his thoughts that he almost jumped out of his skin when a tap on the shoulder alerted him he wasn't alone.

"I thought it was you but I wasn't completely sure." Carissa laughed looking at him.

"Erm… Hi." Now he got a look at her he saw that she was almost the same at the last attempt at a date and was just as blown away as last time. "You look amazing." He said hoping to distract her from his appearance.

"Aww, thanks and you look… different."

"Weird is what you wanted to say right?" she smiled

"Maybe but seeing the effort you put into this I know your really trying." Suddenly he noticed her nostrils flare for a moment and went red again.

"I know. I sort of went overboard on the aftershave and was really hoping you wouldn't notice."

"Its… pretty strong."

"Yeah, I'm already ruining this evening so maybe this is a sign that I should stop before I do something to make it worse." Carissa grabbed his hand before he could move away

"You're not going anywhere. I think you're sweet for trying so hard and I want to see what else will happen because of it." Andrew smiled back at her.

"Famous last words. All right then, I was think of going to one of those Mistral restaurants followed by some…dancing somewhere." _Oh crap!_ As usual his mouth moved faster than his brain and his inner thoughts started screaming at him. However, this made Carissa really happy.

"Sounds great! I never knew you like dancing too, you didn't say anything before."

"Well I do, its one of my favourite things to do." _Please stop talking!_ Putting her arm through his she then said.

"This is going to be a fun evening!" Andrew smiled as a cold sweat started to form on his head.

"Yeah, can't wait!"

They found a restaurant in Vale and had a pleasant meal which Andrew was relieved by as he knew that the next part of the evening was going to cause him some issues. All through their meal, Andrew couldn't help but feel that he was being watched but couldn't quite put his finger on it so simple enjoyed the meal. Once they had finished and left the restaurant, they then started to head into Downtown Vale where most of the clubs were located. On their way Carissa stopped Andrew

"Andrew, do you mind if I choose a place for us to go?" Andrew stopped and looked at her

"Erm, sure. If you want to, you probably know better places to go than I do."

"Thanks, I know somewhere that we can both go."

"Both go?" Carissa didn't answer him and just led him to where she wanted to go. As they went along Andrew noticed that he was getting some odd looks from the people around him and it took him a while to realise that it wasn't necessarily him they were looking at. He looked at Carissa and was drawn towards her tail and it all clicked, he hadn't thought about the fact that Faunus we're not thought of fondly by everyone. The Human First group had taught him that but after spending all this time with her he was wondering why they had such a problem with them. As they walked on he saw several signs on buildings that explicitly stated that Faunus were not welcome which started to make Andrew feel angry.

Eventually they came across a large dark coloured building that Andrew had never seen before, it was a club and there seemed to be a fair few people going in and out but nearly all of them were Faunus. He'd only just met his first Faunus and now he was surrounded by loads of them.

"Wow, there's a lot of people here."

"I know, I chose this place for a reason."

"What reason?" Carissa held his hand.

"I know you're still getting used to Faunus…"

"Oh I'm fine with Faunus! Really fine! Couldn't be finer!" Carissa put her finger on his mouth to stop him from saying anything else.

"It's okay, I know. What I'm doing here is simply showing you that humans and Faunus are really not that different. When we get inside I guarantee that you'll not even notice the difference." Andrew took a breath to calm himself. "But if that's too much too soon then we can go somewhere else."

"If this is where you want to go then its fine with me. I just didn't know that there was this much segregation."

"It's not that bad, there are some places that don't allow Faunus which is why we tend to go to places like this. Humans are allowed in here, so you'll be okay."

"Then let's go." With a smile Carissa lead the way and Andrew looked up at the lights on the front of the building. They were green in colour and appeared to show two different Faunus dancing together, one had horns of some kind and the other had a long thin tail with a name underneath it saying The Savannah.

When he got in, he was amazed but what he could see. The room wasn't as dark as he thought because of the light show that was taking place so he could make out the room very well. There was a large circular dance floor in the centre of the room that had a colour changing light up floor with multiple round tables around it with plenty of people sitting at them. On the right and left-hand side of the room were two long bars that had several people serving drinks and was in a constant white light coming from the shelves behind the bar and the bar itself. Located at the back of the room and above the dance from was a balcony area with a box sticking out of it, the bottom half was covered in black broads and the top half with glass. Inside it was the DJ and all of his mixing equipment but also the lighting and affects controls to making him have complete control over the club.

"Wow, looks… interesting." Andrew really didn't know what to say about it and Carissa laughed at his response.

"Once you loosen up a bit, you'll love it. Come on!" she then grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the dance floor and Andrew then had to worry about the fact that he'd never danced at all in his life. _Ah shit._

When they were on the floor Carissa got straight into it and seemed to be doing a dance she must have choreographed before coming here because he really didn't want to believe she was doing this in the spur-of-the moment. He looked around at all the other people dancing and then at himself and wondered if his limbs could bend the ways some of these people were moving, eventually he started to sway and then added a foot tap with a head nod. He had no idea why he was doing this, only that the rhythm of the music seemed to make his body move involuntary and after a while Carissa saw him and smiled.

"Not like that, come here!" she grabbed his hand and pulled him over to her and started to move his arms with hers. He let her lead him as he was in unfamiliar territory he started to feel as though Carissa already knew he wasn't much of a dancer. Feeling embarrass he looked her right in the face and she was already looking smug and before long she pulled him off the dance floor to a table area where she asked him

"You really don't know how to dance do you?"

"What?! Sure, I do I mean who doesn't know how to dance. "her look never changed and it only took a few seconds of this before he said, "Yeah I can't dance, not even to save my life."

"Then why did you suggest going dancing?"

"Because this is what you would want to do, and I wanted you to be happy this evening after…. Last time." Carissa leaned across the table and kissed him on the cheek.

"Stop worrying about me being happy. As long as we were together then you could have decided to do anything this evening and I would have been happy." Andrew smiled as he looked at her.

"Did I ever tell you that you're amazing." She smiled back

"Yes, but you can say it more than once." Before Andrew could speak he heard a familiar squeal come from behind him and as he turned around and stood up he was already unimpressed.

"What are you doing here?" he said to Lauren who was looking rather pleased with herself.

"Nothing. I have to say though, only you could mess up dancing."

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Andrew thought that Carissa sounded a little jealous and had to keep himself from bursting into laughter

"I'm guessing he didn't tell you about me, I'm his other girlfriend Lauren. He has several on the go at once you see." Andrew now went cold and looked at Carissa who was very confused by this

"Don't listen to her! She's mad! A completely insane moron!"

"Aww, he's using my pet name."

"Shut up! You're not helping! Carissa, don't believe her. She's my team mate Lauren and very soon she'll be my ex-team mate" he was now looking very angry. Carissa looked at Andrew then at Lauren who then said

"Don't worry Carissa, he likes you a lot more than me so you're his main girlfriend."

"I'm going to kill you!" Before either of them could say anything Chris suddenly appeared.

"Evening Andrew, Carissa. Sorry for interrupting you but Lauren got away from me and obviously thought it would be funny to piss Andrew off."

"Why did you have to go and ruin my fun?" Chris ignored Lauren and focused on Carissa who now began to smile.

"It's all right Chris, I could tell she was winding Andrew up. I just thought it would be funny to see how he would respond." Andrew gave her a shocked expression and then gave Lauren the same look.

"I can't…. I just…. Why?" Lauren then laughed

"Sorry, couldn't resist but I can say that Carissa has got my approval."

"Thanks, I think?" Carissa said as Andrew put his face in his hands then spoke up

"If you're both here then Ulysses must be here too so, where is he?"

"I think he was trying to blend in somewhere… ah there he is" as soon as Chris had finished speaking Andrew spotted Ulysses walking towards them wearing the most ludicrous outfit he could have chosen. A white flared suit with a pink shirt and a massive cravat.

"You chose that for him, didn't you?" Andrew asked, focusing his question at Lauren.

"What? I think he looks great." She was smiling, and Andrew couldn't tell if she was being honest or not, but Ulysses was with them before he could think any further on the matter.

"Hello Andrew. Hello Miss Remus. I hope your evening is going well?"

"It was up until Lauren started being Lauren."

"I do apologise on her behalf. I must say though Chris, I thought that we were supposed to observe and only intervene if necessary?" Chris dropped his head when Andrew looked his way.

"Yes Ulysses but Lauren couldn't contain herself. Also, Andrew wasn't supposed to hear that part."

"Oh, sorry." Now Andrew looked back to Carissa.

"I'm sorry for my team mates, if you want to call it a night there and go back to Beacon then I won't blame you." She walked over to him.

"Nope, we're staying because I'm going to show you how to dance." With that he pulled Andrew over to the dance floor again to his happy relief, leaving his team mates behind. They all eventually joined them on the dance floor but tried to give the pair some room to themselves. After some time, Andrew was starting to get the hang of it and looked over to his team mates who all looked happy for him. They then left the dance floor to get a drink where Ulysses said to Andrew

"You look very happy my friend." Andrew put his arm around Ulysses

"I am thanks, also thanks for keeping an eye on me. I know it was you who would have suggested it."

"I only wanted to help you if you needed it."

"You don't have to explain yourself, you look out for me way too much." Ulysses smiled

"It is what friends do." Andrew then ruffed his hair and they walked over to the others but before they got there Ulysses then said, "Please excuse me, I need to use the rest room." Andrew smiled and shook his head.

"You don't have to ask permission, go!" Ulysses then left him, and Andrew lost track of him in the crowd, so he went over to the rest of his group who had got some drinks.

"Here you go Andrew, got you something." Chris offered out a drink to him which he took. Looking at Carissa who was talking to Lauren made him feel as though he should start running as Lauren would be telling her something very embarrassing. Before he could say anything, he heard someone starting to shout.

"Everyone down on the ground! NOW!" followed by a series of automatic gun fire shots as multiple armed men stormed the building. The sound of everyone screaming nearly drowned out the angry and forceful shouts of the assailants as they went through the room securing the exits. Andrew, Carissa and his team sighed and gave each other annoyed looks.

"I didn't plan this part of the evening." Andrew said trying to make light of the situation which Carissa didn't seemed to be very impressed with.

"Maybe leave the jokes out for now Andrew. We need to be careful here." Andrew looked at Chris and then around the room, with so many people in here if they started anything in retaliation to these armed men then a lot of innocent people would most likely be hurt or killed.

"What do we do then?"

"Play along, until we come up with a plan." At this point one of the gunmen came up to them pointing his gun square at Lauren.

"You deaf or something! On the ground or I'll start by blowing this girl head off!" Lauren laughed

"Funny that's what I was going to say to you." This didn't go down well as the man went to slam the butt of his gun into her face when Andrew suddenly stepped in the way and received the hit himself to his cheek.

"Oh, a hero wana-be!" he then hit him again

"Stop it!" Carissa shouted at the man who went back to aiming his gun at them.

"Then get down and shut up!" Andrew turned to look at him but then felt Carissa pull at his shirt sleeve so he back down and did as he was told. "All of you on your front with your hands behind your backs!" again they all did as they were told and soon found their hands bound with plastic handcuffs. Once this was done, the man through them against a walk with other captives and as he was about to walk away Andrew said

"Be glad you got you hits in because once I'm out of these I'll be giving you yours." The man pointed his gun right next to Andrew's forehead

"Sorry? What was that hero?" Andrew didn't reply but kept a smug look on his face. "Just what I thought" The man then walked away and started patrolling the room.

"Don't make them anymore angry than they are." Chris sighed

"What? Just letting him know I'll be paying him back."

"That's great but can you wait till I've come up with a plan?" Andrew shrugged as he watched all the other armed men started cuffing the other patrons and keeping them under watch. He then saw one man reach the middle of the now vacant dance floor and began shouting.

"Okay listen up! We are the Human Liberation Front and we're taking control of this crappy establishment and until further notice you are all our hostages. Don't do anything to piss us off and you'll probably leave here alive but start causing us problems and well…" he followed that up with a few shots from his gun into the ceiling of the club which made many of the hostages scream out in terror. As the room began to quieten down again, one of the armed men was now in the control room turning all the lights on so that they could see everyone clearly and the DJ had been put with all the other hostages.

"Charming fellow." Carissa whispered.

"I know right, must be a hit with the ladies. Or men, I don't know which way he swings." Lauren said while chuckling as she too gave a quick look around the room. "Well this is a great plan so far. Tell me, was being cuffed part of it or do you just like this?" It was clear that Lauren was becoming agitated. "Come on we can take them."

"We are unarmed, out number and never been in a situation like this so I would like to make sure we've got it sorted before we go off half cocked." Even in this situation Chris was still being the calm leader that he was as he began to survey the room. Carissa moved slightly closer to Andrew and asked

"Are you okay? That looked like it hurt?" Andrew turned to face her

"I'm fine, believe me I've had worse punishment. Are you okay?" She nodded but before they could say another word Lauren then said

"Where's Ulysses?!" The four of them looked around the room and couldn't see him anywhere.

"Didn't he go toilet?" Andrew asked as Chris looked over to where the toilets were and then had a rather confused expression on his face

"He did, and they've checked there already. They didn't bring anyone out and there was no other gun fire, so the question is, where is he?"

"Damnit! If only I could contact him with my scroll, then he might be able to help us!" Andrew started to panic as he continued looking over the room.

"I could talk to him." Carissa said which made Chris, Lauren, and Andrew all stared at her. "Telepathy." Was her one-word answer with a shrug.

"You can communicate psychically?" This surprised Chris

"I would be so much more wow'd by that if we hadn't just been taking hostage by these guys but still. Wow." Even tied up, Lauren was still upbeat while Andrew was speechless. Carissa tilted her head

"What? Something wrong?" Andrew shook his head.

"No, I just didn't know that was your semblance. It is your semblance, right?" She sighed

"Yes, but maybe we can discuss it another time."

"So, you should be able to find him mentally?"

"Not exactly Chris, I can only communicate with people through my mind. I can't find them and also I can only communicate with people I know and have built a bond with, so I will need to borrow one of you to do it."

"I'll do it!" Lauren started shuffling herself over to Carissa. "What do you need me to do?"

"Just concentrate on Ulysses, give me everything you know about him and I should be able to make a temporary bond with him. Don't lose focus or I'll lose him." Lauren nodded "Right, sit back to back with me so our heads are touching, and I'll get started."

In the toilet's, Ulysses had heard the commotion from outside and also the sounds of gunfire.

"Oh dear." He said as he looked for a way out but couldn't find one. Suddenly he spied a vent just above one of the cubicles that he might just be able to fit in, in a split second he climbed up on the toilet, pulled the vent off the wall and then rather awkwardly entered the vent backwards so that he could re attach the vent and hide. No sooner had he done this did an armed man enter the toilets and searched each cubical and when he was satisfied that there was no one in there he left. Ulysses left out a sigh of relief and began to think about how to get out of this problem.

"He cannot be the only one, so it is logical to assume that there are more of them out there. I hope that the others are all right. Oh dear, what am I going to do?" Ulysses knew he wasn't strong enough or brave enough to take them on by himself and without any weapons of his own he would be sitting duck if he went out there. For the time being he was safe in his temporary hiding place, but could he just stay here all night and leave his friends out there at the mercy of those armed thugs? As his brain started to come up with a plan a voice spoke to him

" _Ulysses_?" it was such a shock that he banged his head on the inside of the vent. The voice didn't appear to come from anywhere, but he definitely heard something so laid there motionless for a few moments waited to see if the voice would speak again.

" _Ulysses? Are you hearing me?"_ The voice appeared to be coming from inside his own head

"Am I going mad because of this stressful situation?" before he could say anything else the voice replied

 _"No, you're fine. This is Carissa and I'm talking to you telepathically."_

 _"_ Oh! That makes sense. Wait a minute no it does not?"

 _"I haven't got time to explain just tell me, are you okay? Are you safe?"_

"I suppose so, I am hiding in a vent in the gentlemen's room."

 _"Good your team mates will be happy to hear that."_

"Are you all okay?"

 _"Not really, we're tied up and there are a lot of people with guns out here."_

"This is not good. What are we going to do?" There was a long pause before Carissa spoke again

 _"Chris says he's got a plan but needs to know if you can do something?"_

"What does he need me to do?"

 _"Can you make it to the DJ control box?"_

"I'm glad that he's okay but are you sure that this is a good idea? If he gets caught, then they might just shoot him rather than tie him up with the rest of us?" Andrew was concerned for his friend and Chris then tried to reassure him.

"Don't worry, Ulysses is much smarter than the rest of us. He'll be fine."

"He does have a unique ability to almost become invisible to everyone around him." Lauren was also trying to be positive, but Andrew could pick up a sense of worry in her voice.

"So, if he does reach there then what?" Carissa asked the group and Chris looked around the room. All the patrons were bound and being watched by the armed men so if they could get the people out of there then they could deal with the thugs without fear of getting anyone could up in the fight.

"When Ulysses reaches the control box, he'll be able to control the room and create a distraction. That's when we'll act. Andrew, you can break these cuffs, right?" Andrew tested the plastic cuffs with a few tugs which gave him an idea as to their strength. With the aid of a barrier snap he could break them easily.

"Not a problem."

"Good, you'll have to break us all out. Once free, Lauren and Carissa with start to deal with the armed thugs while I go and secure Ulysses up at the control box. He'll need back up. This will allow you to start getting the people to safety by using your barriers to block any stray gun fire."

"Maybe I could put it up around the dance floor if we can get them all in there." Chris gave another look around the room.

"If we can and seal them in there then that would be the easiest solution. Think you could do that Lauren, bearing in mind you'll both be stuck in there with them?"

"Sure can. This is going to be a much more fun evening than I thought it would be." Lauren now had a big smile on her face and Carissa nodded to the new plan, so Andrew sighed.

"Maybe for you but it's not what I had in mind for our first date." Carissa then bumped Andrew's arm.

"I don't know, can't say it's not going to be exciting." Chris looked over the room again

"All we've got to do is wait for Ulysses to get into position."

Ulysses climbed down from his hiding spot very slowly and even more quietly. After he was back on the ground he crept over to the door and slowly opened it a crack so that he could see out, there was no one immediately in front of him so he opened it only enough for him to slip through whilst making sure that the door made no noise as it closed. He then started to crawl as close to the wall as possible until he reached the stairs up to the control box. He climbed up on his hands and knees, trying to make as little noise as possible. Once he was at the top he stood up.

Grabbing a fire extinguisher from an emergency box at the top of the stairs he raised it above his head and cautiously walked into the control box and up behind the man inside. Just as he was about to strike the man, he turned around but didn't just a chance to call out as the extinguisher contacted his head with a clang.

"Well, that was easier than I expected." Ulysses wheezed out as he half expected to fail but was glad that he had done part of his job. Looking at the unconscious man he said, "I would feel sorry for you but something tells me that you deserve this." He locked the door to the room so that he would have some defence and then he moved over to the controls whilst pushing his glasses onto his head so that he could use his semblance to see how to operate the collection of switches and buttons before him. "Oh, this does not look as bad as I thought." He then set about his next task by first turning the microphone on which gave some feedback that caught everyone's attention. After a moment of hesitation, he then spoke

"Erm…. Good evening ladies and… gentlemen. Sorry for the somewhat disrupted… evenings frivolities but I am here to put things back on track." He took a breath as his throat started to become dry. "I am your new JD, I mean DJ! Sorry I am a little new to this, my name is… mix…guy hay…yar." Thinking on his feet was not Ulysses best quality and he was surprised that he came up with that much.

"Who the hell are you! You'd better surrender man or else we'll start blasting hostages!"

"Well that is not very nice of you. I think you need to relax so how about I…. do some DJ stuff and get you in the right mood." He then activated the music set list that had been left on the system. The men were not impressed

"Don't test us you little shit! One last chance, come down here or we shoot one person for each second you make me wait!" Ulysses had now got the whole system sorted and knew what to do next.

"Okay, the music is not working so how about I get the light show going." With that he shut off all lights and plunged the whole room into darkness which caused all the hostages to scream and cry out in terror. The armed men tried to get them to shut up but they had no idea what was going on. Then spot lights started to randomly turn on and off on each of the gunmen which blinded and dazed each one in turn. Suddenly the leader called out

"You idiots! Don't let that piss head make fools of all of you! Get up there and end him while I make good on my threat!" He then grabbed his gun and aimed at the crowd of hostages but as he was about to pull the trigger, he was interrupted by a flying kick to the jaw sending him into the middle of the dance floor which suddenly lit up.

"Oh don't be a spoil sport. I think the DJ is just making this fun again, you know like before you and your loser patrol came in and put a downer on the evening." Lauren was now up and ready for a fight, with all the other gunmen still dazed by the constant flashing lights in their faces they couldn't respond to her. The leader started to pick himself up

"You asked for it bitch! I'm going to break your loud mouth first then I'm going to kill you!" Lauren smiled and looked up to the control box

"Mix guy hay yar! Change the play list, I need a deeper rhythm to kick these guys asses to!"

"Coming right up" and with that Ulysses changed the music to something he knew Lauren would like. It got her instant approval as she began to tap her foot and nod her head.

"Good choice." She then flew into the dance floor. The leader swung his fist which she slid under on her knees and then stuck her leg out while passing knocking him to the floor. Before he was standing she was already back on her feet and doing a little dance.

"You'll pay for that!" he then charged her

"Don't think so!" she span, avoiding the attack and kicking him in the middle of his back as he passed. The leader was now angry so called out

"Waste her!" expecting gun fire to be heard Lauren prepared to dodge but nothing happened "What's wrong you idiots! Kill her!" When he looked at his men he saw them all with confused looks on their faces.

"Sorry boss but our guns, they seem to be out of ammo."

"WHAT?!"

"Sorry that's my fault." The men looked to where the voice came from and standing behind them was Carissa with a collection of ammo magazines. "To be fair I thought you wouldn't miss them." The leader was not almost purple in colour

"I've had ENOUGH! Kill the abomination and I'll deal with big mouth!" as he went to face Lauren she was already so close as she roundhouse kicked him across the face sending him hurtling into the bar area with an added boost from her wind blast semblance, crashing into all the bottles and shattering them whereby he slumped to the floor. Now Lauren looked at the rest of the guys

"Next?" The word created the response she wanted as nearly all of the men ran onto the dance floor to get her as she stretched her arms. When they got close she flipped back onto her hands and began to spin knocking several of them down in quick succession and without missing a beat flipped back to her feet and continued her dance fight styled fighting. Suddenly from out of nowhere Carissa ran across the tops of the heads of some of the men and landed a devastating punch to the last guys face as she landed on the floor.

"Don't hog them all! I want in on this too!" she shouted to Lauren who laughed.

"I knew I would like you!" the two of them started to make sort work of them, Lauren continued her unorthodox kick base dance fighting while Carissa fought with more of a familiar looking hand-to-hand combat style. She made use of her tail as something to distract or confuse her opponents by swishing it in front of their faces or throwing them off with quick flicks here and there. The light show was now in full swing and the music changed matching their moves precisely as Ulysses became a master on the DJ's controls. Andrew could see him dancing to himself inside the box as he was in full control of it, he looked ridiculous with his spins and pointing his hand to the ceiling, but Andrew wouldn't have him any other way. Now that all the remaining thugs were on the dance floor Andrew through up a barrier all around them to keep them in and away from the hostages.

"Okay everyone, head for the exits!" Chris shouted as loud as he could so as to be heard over the music and commotion going on. While Lauren and Carissa had kept them busy Chris and Andrew had started freeing as many of the other people as possible from their cuffs and they all began to pour towards the main entrance.

"Its been chained shut!" someone called out which got Andrews attention, so he grabbed Chris.

"I got this go and make sure Ulysses is safe, we're still not sure if we've got them all on the dance floor!"

"You sure?"

"Positive, go!" with that Chris was off in a flash as Andrew headed towards the door. When he manged to push his way to the front he saw a rather large thick metal chain had indeed been wrapped around the door. _Wish I had my axe with me._ The door however wasn't anything special so decided to ignore the chain and destroy that instead.

"STAND BACK!" he bellowed, and everyone gave him some space as he charged the door with a shoulder barge that caused one of the double-sided doors to completely rip off its hinges and nearly pulled the other one with it. Suddenly there was a tidal wave of people flooding out of the building and into the streets, Andrew was the only one trying to get back in and it took him ages to return to his friends because of the volume of people trying to get out of the exit.

In the control box Ulysses was in a world of his own as he said,

"I could get use to this." With a flick of a switch Ulysses changed the lighting pattern to a red and gold alternate flash as he watched Lauren and Carissa keep the men busy on the dance floor. As he started to adjust the music he made a spin only for him to be facing two armed men that had burst into the control box.

"That's enough from you DJ!" one man snarled pointing his gun at Ulysses.

"Well I am not strictly speaking a real DJ, I am just filling in while other one is away so…"

"QUIET!" the other man interrupted making Ulysses silent instantly. "Hope you enjoyed you're set because this is the last one you'll ever do!" Ulysses screwed his eyes closed expecting to hear a gunshot as his final sound, but it was instead a hard "thwack". He opened his eyes to see one of the thugs collapse to the floor.

"What the?!" the other man never had time to see what had taken out his friend as a palm strike smacked into his face and forced him to slam against the wall behind him, knocking him out instantly. When the scene had ended, Ulysses finally saw the man who had saved him was none other than Chris.

"Oh, thank goodness you came along when you did! I thought I was going to die just then!" Ulysses slid to the floor and went quite pale.

"No problem Ulysses. You going to be all right?" Ulysses nodded a few times in response. "Glad to hear it because you've not finished yet. Better get back into your grove." Ulysses started to pull himself up.

"Of course." As he turned back to the control deck he then added. "Thank you, for saving me." Chris patted him on the shoulder

"Anytime. Now I'll go and make sure no other guys are going to try and drop you." Chris then left the room and took up a guard position at the top of the stairs.

Back on the main floor Andrew was mesmerised by Carissa and wondered how she had learnt to fight so well, it was clear to him she had very good training before coming to Beacon. Something then caught his eye as he saw a man who had not gone onto the dance floor had found all the ammo that had been taken from them and had reloaded his weapon.

The man then took three shots at Carissa but with the barrier still up it didn't do anything other than confuse the man as to what had happened to his perfect shot. Suddenly pure rage took over Andrew and he sprinted full tilt at the man and once he was in range he pulled his right hand back and then unleashed a devastating punch to the left side of his face. Before he fell back out of range, Andrew grabbed him with his left hand and pulled him back to him and delivered a second equally powerful punch to his face. The man's face was bleeding from a busted nose and cuts across his lips as he then tried to speak

"Look I surrender, all right! See no gun." He held up his hand expecting Andrew to show mercy

"You think I'll stop because your unharmed?" The man looked worried and slowly nodded his head, Andrew shook his in response which served in making the man begin to panic. "You're out of luck pal, you see you just took three shots at my date so I'm going to make sure you never have that chance again."

"Oh crap! Come on man, I'm sorry! I didn't know she was your girlfriend! Please have mercy!" Andrew half smiled

"Fair enough I won't kill you." The man sighed a heavy relief as Andrew added "I'll just give you one more punch to make it three for three."

"Come on!" he whimpered

"Take it like a man, I did when you bashed me with your gun." He now looked even more frightened than before as Andrew said, "Told you that you were lucky to get your hits in when you did, now it's time for yours." Before the man said another word, Andrew unleashed a third and finally punch into his mouth. The force of the hit not only yield a lot of blood but also two teeth flew out of his mouth and he instantly fell unconscious so Andrew let him fall to the floor into an ungraceful heap.

Before long all of the men were down for the count on the dance floor and no others could be found in the club, so Andrew lowered his barrier from around the dance floor. Lauren and Carissa walked towards Andrew and then they saw Chris walking down the stairs dragging another unconscious man with Ulysses walking behind them. When they were all together they collectively gave a sigh of relief. Holding up that barrier of that size and length of time had made Andrew quite tired and needed to take several deep breaths before he could do anything else.

"I think we did well." Lauren said with a sense of pride.

"That's good but we shouldn't have had to do that at all." Chris was annoyed that all this happened in the first place.

"We did save everyone in here though." Andrew tried to point out to Chris that they did manage to turn the gunmen's plan around on them.

"I didn't think we'd have to deal with everyone ourselves, I thought the Vale police would be here by now!" Almost on que the sound of sirens could be heard getting louder as they got closer

"I think that is them." Ulysses said as he pointed towards the front door that was hanging by a single hinge. Chris clapped both his hands to his face.

"Thanks Ulysses. Right we need to get out of here now!"

"Why? We haven't done anything wrong?" Andrew asked rather puzzled.

"We haven't but the cops won't know what's going on and I rather that our teachers didn't get pulled out here and give us a lecture on proper student/hunter protocol."

"Whatever, I'm staying. They aren't going to do anything to us, also we may get to be heroes in the news tomorrow!" Lauren was acting very excited by this prospect.

"No, we won't, that's not why we did this so let's get out of here before this all gets messy."

"Are you sure? We have done the right thing. Have we not?"

"Trust me, having a huntsman professor for a father I know how they'll respond. We got to move, or we'll be facing detention or worse for the rest of our time at Beacon and beyond." Before any other word could be heard, the sound of a police megaphone started up.

"Attention members of the Human Liberation Front! You have one chance to surrender, if you refuse then we'll storm the building with force!"

"They don't sound like they're willing to listen to our explanation, are they?" Andrew said to the group.

"Doubtful, I think Chris has a point. We'd better get out of here before they arrest us by mistake." Carissa added

"Thank you!" Chris was relieved to hear this but was interrupted by the megaphone once again.

"We'll take your silence as a no to surrender! Without any hostages we'll be coming in hot, that was your only warning!" Lauren then looked quite scared

"After time to think about it, I think I agree with you Chris. Shall we get out of here before they get too excited?"

"Ditto!" shouted Ulysses. Chris slumped

"Right, now we're all agreed let's get out of here!" he then ran towards a fire exit that was at the back of the room near the rear stairs followed by everyone else. He flung himself at the release bar and almost broke the door as it opened.

"Go! Quickly!" Lauren was the first out of the door, dragging Ulysses by his arm behind her hardly giving him a chance to run on his own. Carissa and Andrew then run through the door without looking back with Chris slamming the door and sprinting right after everyone else, mere moments before the Vale police entered the building. As they ran Andrew then asked Carissa

"So, that's not how I planned the evening, but did you enjoy yourself?" She gave him a quick look and answered

"Not really what I was expecting." Andrew sighed but Carissa then added "For our next date can we just have a quiet night in somewhere. Cinema perhaps?" Andrew then laughed

"Sure, sounds like a plan." With that, all five of them ran through the back allies away from the club hoping that nothing else out of the ordinary befell them on their escape back to Beacon.


	31. The Ice Queen Cometh

"That really happened?" Andrew turned to face Weiss with his half smile

"Every word of it."

"You and your friends rescued a club full of patrons from a terrorist group?"

"We didn't know they were terrorist, we just knew we had to stop them."

"And you let your girlfriend and Lauren fight most of them on their own?"

"Out of all of us they were the best choice, Ulysses was suck in the DJ room, Chris was keeping him safe while constantly observing the situation and I was getting the people out of the club. I was always used as a battering ram by my team so making openings is something I do well Miss Xiao Long." She scoffed as Ruby spoke up

"That must have been awesome! You saved all those people and did it all in the moment, that's so cool!"

"That is something that all huntsman must be capable of doing. If you can't think on your feet then you'll only get yourselves killed."

"What I don't get is how you kept all those thugs on the dance floor, why didn't they just try and stop you instead of fighting the girls?" Blake's question wasn't a surprise to him. He had down played his semblance to a point that when telling them what had happened that he never even mentioned it in the story.

"They weren't very smart and I'm sure that Lauren's "personality" was enough to keep them occupied." He never liked telling his students the nature of his semblance as he used it as a method of adding mystery to how he fights. If everyone knew about it then not only would they find ways to out wit him with it, it also kept them on their toes around him as they had no idea what to expect.

"One day we will find out."

"That you may Miss Rose but you'll have long graduated by then."

"Challenge accepted!" she cried out with a big grin on her face.

"I worry about you never growing up Miss Rose and its things like this that only make me worry more." Weiss was not very impressed by Ruby's attitude and her sticking her tongue out at her partner didn't help.

"I have to agree with professor Tinman, you are so immature is frightening." Andrew then saw Yang looking quite cross but couldn't tell why so asked

"Something wrong Miss Xiao Long? You're unsettling quiet." Yang folded her arms and fell back in her seat.

"You treated us like children, like we hadn't a clue what we were doing and being irresponsible, but you did the same thing! You are such a hypocrite! Where do you get off lecturing about us what we did because as far as I can see we both acted the same way and, in the end, we both saved people so what does it matter how we did it?" Andrew slowly tilted his head and focused his whole attention on her, for several long seconds he didn't say anything but could see out of the corner of his cybernetic eye that the other three girls looked shocked that Yang had said anything.

Andrew then calmly stood up and grabbed the back of his chair and walked over the room to where Yang was sitting, dragging his chair on its back legs all the way. When he was next to Yang he swung his seat round and slammed it onto the floor without a single change in his expression or demeaner. Yang shifted uncomfortably in her seat so that her body was trying to face away from him and looked towards her team mates, Blake and Weiss were covering their faces while Ruby looked as though she had witnessed a murder. Andrew then sat down next to Yang.

"Is that how you truly feel?" his voice was quiet, and Yang felt a chill go up her spine but didn't reply. "You think that we acted the same way?" this time he sounded disappointed and his head dropped, he was silent for a moment and then said "I thought you were all starting to understand but I can see that you all have a lot to learn, seems I wasn't hard enough on you all in my class."

"I learned plenty, we all did. Haven't we aced every class you gave us?" she was acting aggressive and Andrew knew that meeting aggression with more aggression, especially with her, would not yield the right result.

"Right let's go over that story then. Did I go out looking for a criminal group?"

"No but that's…" before she finished he carried on

"No, I didn't. Did I purposefully put my friends in harms way?" she looked away from him, so he added "No, I didn't. Did we think we were better than the criminals we were against?" still silence. "No, we didn't. We didn't know what we were against and were incredibly lucky that those twenty odd men were the whole group. They were inexperienced, sloppy, and pretending to be something they weren't. That was their first attempt at doing anything against the law, before then it was a little group meeting once a week talking about what they should do against the Faunus in Vale."

"They were still terrorists, just like Torchwick and the White Fang!" Andrew didn't respond to that comment and ended on,

"Finally. Did I go against one of my teachers and think that I was better than them, that I knew what should be done and think I could deal with it with barely one semester of training under my belt?" the girls all looked defeated and so he took that as a no. He was about to speak when Blake said

"I'm sorry but we had to do that, we couldn't let them carry on planning against Vale and hope they waited for us to finish school."

"So, you think that there were no other hunters in the area? There were absolutely no one else that could have gone after them?"

"No, they don't know the White Fang like me. I…we were the only ones who could stop them."

"I don't doubt that you know the White Fang well, but you went against me Miss Belladonna. When I first spoke to you about it I said if you heard anything else that you were to contact the proper authorities. You didn't and instead decided that going after them on your own was the best course of action."

"It was. The less people that were involved the better it was. We didn't want to get anyone else hurt." Suddenly Andrew's brain flashed white as what she said rang home with something he had said many years ago. Before he succumbed to his mind again he stood up almost knocking his chair away

"AND WHAT ABOUT GET YOURSELVES HURT?!" he was so loud he caught all of them off guard. Weiss winched as Ruby tried to hide behind her, Blake went wide eyed and Yang looked away from him almost expecting him to attack her. _Don't do it, calm down. NOW!_ He took a few deep breaths before speaking again

"If you had been hurt or gods forbid worse then what would that have done to the people around you. I could have had to write all your loved one's letters explaining why they'll never see you again and that I couldn't tell why them as I wouldn't know. Your actions have consequences and many of them are unseen until it is too late." He felt his heart pound in his chest and needed to sit down, as he turned to pick up his chair, Yang had gotten up and picked it up for him.

"Here you go teach." Andrew nodded and almost collapsed into the seat, just as he'd feared he'd let himself get to emotional and was aggravating his condition again. For a couple of minutes, he controlled his breathing, so his heart was slow and cleansed his mind.

"We didn't know that was going to affect you so much professor." Andrew looked up to Weiss whose face was covered in guilt.

"My students getting involved in something very dangerous and not trusting me with it. Of course it would affect me deeply."

"But we were okay in the end. See no harm at all." Ruby then showed him her hands front and back to which Andrew sighed.

"I know and I'm so relieved about that but none of you know how lucky you were. You could have come out of that far worse. The same thing could have happened to me and my team, during that fight Ulysses was nearly killed if not for the intervention of Chris and one of the thugs took a shot at Carissa which could…" he stopped again as he felt his eye begin to well up. As he wiped it away he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked over to see Yang with a smile on her face.

"But they didn't"

"That's right you saved all those people just as he helped save all those civilians. Also just like you and your team, we came out fine." Andrew looked back over the Blake then over the whole group. With a reluctant sigh he said

"Indeed. People were saved which is the whole reason hunters exist." After looking at the ceiling trying to keep his tears inside his eyes he looked back down. "But it was reckless and far too dangerous for you four to have undertaken on your own, a large terrorist group and psychopathic criminal was more than you should have had to deal with on your first assignment." They gave each other glances but before they could say anything else he finished with. "And you did it, you came back in one piece which is more than some people can hope for. For that I'm very thankful as I wouldn't want to lose any of you."

"Even me?" Ruby asked with a raised hand. Andrew looked over to her and chuckled

"Even you Miss Rose." She then smiled

"In which case I think I can say we're sorry for upsetting you and now that it's all done I can promise we won't do anything like this again. Well, at least until after we graduate."

"Good, because if you even did that again while you were here then I would have to pit you against Reg again and this time he'll not be playing nice."

"You mean he wasn't before!" this made the room erupt into laughter which lasted s few minutes. Once it had all calmed down Andrew looked at the clock on his wall and realised he'd kept the girls for a few hours.

"Okay, I think its high time you were all on your way. Spending all this time with a teacher won't help your credibility." With a wave of her hand Yang said

"Nah, it's fine. Your alright teach so most people will be jealous if anything." Andrew wasn't looking at her face to face so couldn't tell if she was lying.

"If that's true then that is incredibly sad. Still you should all get going." They all stood up and Andrew showed them to the door.

"If you're not feeling well again sir, we could stop by again and help cheer you up again." Andrew shook his head at Weiss' proposal.

"I'd rather you didn't, you've all got important school work you should be doing instead if cheering me up." She wasn't to happy to hear this so Andrew reluctantly said "But… if you really want to see me then I suppose I can't stop you, just promise me you'll message me before you do. Okay?"

"Of course, sir! Thank-you." He looked at the other three.

"That goes for you as well." They gave him a smile.

"You sure about that sir? Weiss might not leave you alone." Andrew sighed and made a small laugh

"You all know where I live now so it's not like I can hide from you, might as well go with it." After that, they said their goodbyes and he showed them out. Looking back at his now empty flat he did feel much better than he had before, although he would never admit it to Team RWBY. After clearing up the mugs he then sat down to relax and before he knew it he had fallen into a dreamless sleep.

A few days later Andrew felt much more refreshed than he had for a while, after his episode he knew that for some time at least he should be all right with his mind back under his control. He got up and got ready for the day and then noticed the digital clock on his dressing table and saw the date.

"Oh, it's THAT day." He shook his head and half smiled "At least the tournament is on so no one will notice, to be safe though just have to stay away from… everybody." After he was done he grabbed his green jacket and for the briefest of moments paused as he held it then went right back to getting on with his day.

As he walked through the grounds, it was obvious that the festival was well under way with all the vendors around the school and many more people than he would deem necessary. With so many people from all over Remnant that he felt like a stranger in his own city, so he moved through them and towards the shuttles that would take him to the Colosseum. In the years previous to this he always watched the fights on the vid screen when he wasn't teaching but this time was different because with it being at Beacon he could watch it live and all the classes had been cancelled due to the disruptions the tournament would cause.

After boarding a shuttle and making his way to the floating coliseum, he wondered if anyone would see him but looking at the sheer amount of people in this shuttle alone quickly pushed that thought from his mind and he enjoyed the ride. It wasn't long until he had arrived and disembarked from the shuttle to which he began to walk around the arena, none of the matches had started yet so he took his time admiring the building.

"Just goes to show what we can do when we all work together." Being here filled him with pride as this arena was built by all four kingdoms, each providing a part making as much a symbol of unity as the festival itself. Suddenly he heard two Familiar voices announce the start of the tournament and the first match.

"Good morning people of Remnant and welcome to the Vital Festival Tournament!" Peter Ports voice was so invigorating to hear, Andrew couldn't help but half-smile to himself.

"Indeed, and we will be your commentators throughout the tournament. I am Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck."

"And I'm Professor Peter Port. We'll be giving you all the action as it happens so lets get ready for a truly exciting event!"

"That's right Peter. In fact, the first match is about to start in ten minutes so I hope you are all ready to start this tournament with a bang!" Barty and Peter couldn't have been better choices for this and Andrew quietly chuckled to himself thinking that this was going to be the best tournament in years simply because of them. However, he didn't go into the arena with all the other spectators and waited for them to clear out so that he was left almost on his own near the entrance area. Once he was happy that everyone who was going in had done so did he then enter and for the first time saw the main arena in person and was in awe of it. Unfortunately, he also noticed that there were far more cameras than he thought there would be, after a few seconds to think about it he sighed as he should have known that there would be so many.

"Guess I'll watch from the entrance tunnel." He said to himself as he then leaned up against the wall leading to the seats so as to stay out of view of everyone. When the match finally started he wasn't as interested in it because it was between an Atlas team and a Haven team, so he watched it for pure entertainment whilst also evaluating the students himself. They were good he couldn't deny that, but he felt like they could be better and considered his students to be much better causing him to once again laugh.

"I guess I'm just bias towards Beacon." When the match was done the winning team was shown to be the Atlas team called Team FNKI and he was surprised by it as they didn't look or act anything like Ironwood would have wanted. "So, he's already beating me. That smug face on his increasingly growing head will be insufferable." He paused _What's his end game? What does he need to achieve? If he is working for them then I have to make sure that nothing isn't overlooked. I'll catch you Ironwood, count on it._

"What a match to start on! Truly a fantastic match to watch and an early will for Atlas. What was your take on that Professor?"

"Doctor! And yes I must agree, breath-taking to witness! Atlas may have taken the lead, but I wouldn't count out any of the other academies just yet as we've only just begun!" Shaking his head at Barty and Peter Andrew stretched his arm.

"Your right, it's anything to play for." He said to himself as he half smiled and was thinking about leaving as he couldn't spend the whole day there until Peter brought him back in.

"Absolutely! Maybe Haven can get a win in the next match, but it won't be easy as Team ABRN take on Beacons own team of young ladies, Team RWBY! All I can say is this will be a match you DON'T want to miss!" Andrew slumped forward.

"Well now I've got to stay and see this." He looked up with his half smile and moved closer to the seating area, all the while staying out of view. After a brief break to reset the arena and let people in the crowd do what they needed to, the teams walked out onto the arena floor. Looking at team RWBY Andrew could tell that they were feeling confident, he was just hoping that they wouldn't be feeling over confident after what he had said to them a few days ago. With a hesitant breath he said

"Don't do anything stupid girls." He stopped then added "That's asking a lot, well nothing too stupid then." When the battleground had been selected the match started which brought Andrew just a little bit closer to the arena. It was good to see Team RWBY up against a team of equal skill and he was glad as this might humble them a bit if they see other strong and well-trained students from the other academies. As he watched he kept a tally of all the mistakes that team RWBY did so he could make new TIMS based on their weaknesses to help them overcome them. He was very impressed with Team ARBN as the match went on.

"Head Master Lionheart trains his students well." A chill run down his spine as he thought about Professor Lionheart, but it was fleeting as the match heated up with Team ABRN losing one of their members giving Team RWBY the number advantage. After that point the match didn't last much longer and after a few more minutes Team RWBY secured a victory for Beacon.

"Good start girls, now it's going to get even more interesting." He was please with all of them but had seen a few things that made him pause for concern and he was going to bring up these complaints when he saw them next. He then felt a twinge in his leg and decided to leave the arena for the time being so headed off to the shuttles to get back to the campus.

When he was back he half contemplated going to his office to get some work done, this thought however lasted mere milliseconds as he passed by some of the food venders causing his stomach to growl.

"Guess I'll get some lunch." He stopped and grabbed some food, enjoying not having to work while wondering if the festival could last longer. Once he was done eating he passed by and ice cream vendor and had to stop and get himself an ice cream cone, he felt after all he'd been through this year he deserved one.

As he was walking away, he suddenly felt his scroll in his pocket start to vibrate so he put his ice cream in his cybernetic hand and reach into his pocket with his left. When he looked at it he saw that it was Peter calling him, so he picked up while being slightly puzzled.

"Hello Peter, something I can help you with?" Peter looked annoyed

"I'm hoping you can Andy, do you know where Team JNPR are?" Andrew shook his head

"Not a clue why?"

"Well they're supposed to be in the arena ready for their match, but no one seems to know where they are. I thought you might have seen them and send them on their way, but I'll have to make an announcement on the loud speakers." Andrew cracked his neck in frustration as he became angry, he told all the students participating not to cause a scene in front of the wold world.

"I may not know where they are, but I'll find them and when I do I'll make sure they'll never embarrass the school again." As he said this his cybernetic hand crushed his ice cream cone as it formed a fist. "Then I'll send them to you."

"Good good. I will give them another ten minutes then I'll have to make an announcement to get them to realise where they should be. Speak to you later." Andrew thrust his scroll into his pocket and started to survey the area, using his cybernetic eye to scan the crowd.

"You'd better already be on your way because if I find you first then I'll kill you!" he then caught sight of his right hand and his destroyed ice cream. "Oh come on! Now I'm pissed." With that he started to march through the crowd and continued looking. He was so worked up that he wasn't looking as thoroughly as he should have been, instead he was thinking about what he would do if he found them all of which would not be pleasant. His time was almost up when he finally saw them finishing a meal with Team RWBY, with an evil purpose he marched up to them trying not to give himself away.

He slowly walked up behind them, but his footsteps did seem to thud as his anger boiled over him, as he got closer he saw that Team RWBY had seen him and all looked worried at his approach. When he was directly behind them he heard Nora say

"What? What's wrong? Is there something on my face?" Without saying anything Ruby pointed at Andrew so all of team JNPR turned around to see him. Before he could say a word, the loud speaker beat him to it.

"Would Team JNPR please report to the battle grounds immediately."

"Yes, like they were scheduled to, several minutes ago!" Andrew took a deep breath

"I think you should all get going, sort of NOW!" he shouted as he pointed towards the arena.

"Ah erm! Sorry! We're going now!" Jaune shot straight up followed by the rest of the team.

"Just get moving! Don't make Beacon look any more incompetent then you already have!"

"Sorry Professor Tinman!"

"Your apology will be your victory now go!" and with that they soon disappeared into the distance. Andrew felt his face become quite warm as his anger started to subside. "Not even ONE day into the tournament and all of you are making Beacon look pathetic." He turned around to look at the girls "None of you had better embarrass us because I've already reached my tolerance for idiots for one festival."

"No problem here sir, we've already won a match for Beacon, so I would say we are doing very well."

"I know, I saw the match first hand Miss Schnee."

"You did! What did you think?" Andrew tilted his head at them

"It was acceptable..." This caused the girls to cheer

"…For a bunch of kids having a slap fight. Other than that, it was sloppy, did any of you prepare for the tournament or read up on the arena mechanics before entering. It was like you had no idea what was going on at times."

"Say what you want teach, we won. Personally, I think we did great, none of us got knocked out and we didn't even loose much aura."

"If that's how you feel then the next fight will probably be your last in the tournament Miss Xiao Long. Also Miss Rose." She winced at her name

"Yeeeees."

"You ever take your eyes of your opponent in battle again and we'll have a falling out that could result in your expulsion." She then tried to make herself seem smaller by sliding off her stool. Blake then stood up for her team.

"That's a bit harsh sir, it's only a tournament. I agree with Yang, we did good. We did better than good, we did great! If you are just pointing faults with us because you're still mad at what we did against the White Fang, then your just being petty." Andrew sighed as there was some truth in her words.

"Maybe you're right but if I'm not hard on you then you'll never learn. I guess your fight wasn't too bad although you still need work."

"We'll take that!" Yang punch the air and smiled

"Was that your attempt at an apology?" Blake asked

"It's the best you'll get." Blake didn't look all to impressed with that but conceded that this was all she was going to get.

"Have you seen all the fights so far Professor?" Weiss asked

"I've seen some of them and now I think I should leave it at that. If I spend all day watching matches, then Professor Ozpin will be cross with me."

"I don't think he'll be seeing as Professor Port and Oobleck are doing all the commentating."

"They have a job to do Miss Belladonna where as I'm simple watching."

"Come on teach, I bet none of the other teachers are doing anything so why don't you come and watch the next match with us."

"It is team JNPR next. Maybe you'd like to keep an eye on them, make sure they don't make things worse?" Andrew looked at Ruby who was now sitting back in her seat properly. He was finding it hard to say no to them as they were right, none of the teachers were working or doing anything related to the academy.

"I do like watching the Beacon matches."

"It's settled! You're coming with us!" Yang was out of her seat before Andrew could blink.

"Hold on I never…"

"Let's go! We don't want to miss the match!" Ruby was now almost into a full run towards the arena.

"Why are you so excitable! You aren't listening to me!"

"Please professor, won't you join us?" He looked towards Weiss and the look on her face instantly made him feel guilty, so he found he couldn't say no. After a sigh he said

"Fine, I'll come along." She smiled back at him

"Splendid, shall we go?" Andrew gestured for her to continue and then followed with Blake.

"It's only fair after all, you criticised us, so you've got to do the same to them."

"I'm doing my job which is to teach you how to be hunters so pointing out your flaws helps you to fix them and become stronger. I don't do it because I want to."

"Right." Blake looked unconvinced but smiled afterwards to which Andrew shook his head whilst also half smiling. _I suppose that I can watch another match, Ozpin will forgive me today._ They were back at the arena before he knew it and heading into the main battle ground to where the seating that was reserved for students and academy staff. Andrew took a quick look and then stopped before sitting down.

"You girls watch from here, I'll just he in the entrance way. These seats aren't very comfortable in my opinion." Ruby looked at him funny.

"Erm what? These seats are great." As she bounced on one of them.

"Not for cyborgs, so I'll go stand over…"

"Sit down teach, don't make me force you." Yang look like she was ready to punch him, and no way was he going to make a scene after what he had told his students. He conceded and sat down between Yang and Ruby, much to Weiss' annoyance. "See that wasn't so hard was it teach." Andrew groaned.

"Hehe this is going to be fun!" All the time Ruby was talking he was looking at all the cameras trying to make sure that none could see him. He then covered the right side of his face with his cybernetic hand and leaned as far back in his seat as possible.

"Whoa, something wrong teach?"

"Huh, what? Nothing, told you that I don't find these seats comfortable." He knew he sounded very off when speaking as this was only a half truth, he was uncomfortable in these seats but because of the seats themselves.

"Are you going to be miserable on purpose now is this because I threatened you?" Before he could answer Ruby then said

"If you want to go then we're not stopping you. Just thought it would be a nice thing to do that's all." Once again, another guilty face forced him to change his tone.

"I said I would watch the match with you and I fully intend to, regardless of the seats stupid design." He half smile at Ruby which made her smile back and then suddenly the teams came out. Frist Team JNPR then their opponents, team BRNZ from Shade and Andrew was intrigued by this as he found Shade students to be talented and unpredictable in equal measures. As the match was about to being Ruby let out a cheer that his cybernetic ear translated as a screech making him move his head away from her.

As they watched the fight Andrew couldn't stop himself from evaluating team JNPR but was happy to see that Jaune had improved quite substantially and was really coming into his own as a hunter. As always Nora was causing more damage to the arena than the people she should have been fighting against, so he just stopped watching her. Meanwhile Ren and Pyrrha had shown that they hadn't stopped improving themselves either, particularly Pyrrha for he never saw her make a step wrong. After Nora had destroyed half of the forest in the battle ground, Andrew felt that the match was entering its final stages but wasn't expecting Jaune to do what he did next when he almost stopped the match to argue about "Team Attack" names.

"Just when I thought he was getting somewhere." Yang laughed.

"He is still Jaune, you do realise that?" Andrew sighed but nodded as he agreed with her.

"Tell me when he stops humiliating himself. Its getting awkward to watch." He covered his eyes as the argument continued but was then nudged by Yang.

"I think you'll want to see this." He took his hand off his face just in time to witness Nora fire all of Team BRNZ out of the battle ground with one swing of her hammer.

"Ouch." He said as Team BRNZ slid down the energy barrier that protected the audience.

"Yeah! Team JNPR were great!" Andrew raised his eyebrow at Ruby.

"Did we watch the same match?"

"Come on teach they won their match. You have to give them that." Before he could answer he felt his scroll go off in his pocket and took it out to see what was going on. It was a message from Ozpin

 _Good day Andrew, I hope you are enjoying the festival. I am sorry to ask you this but can you meet with some Atlas officials that will be landing in front of the school? They will be arriving soon and will need to be escorted to my office once they are here. Thank you._

"Sorry girls, I'm going to have to call it there for today. Got a job to do for Ozpin."

"Do you have to go sir?"

"Indeed I do Miss Schnee. I still have to work even when the school is in the middle of the festival."

"But Team SSSN will be fighting next, I thought you'd want to see them. After all, Sun and Neptune are your favourites." He knew that Yang was being sarcastic so responded with.

"All the more reason I need to go." He then passed by Yang but before he left them he did say "Tell them I was very disappointed with their performance and they should be ashamed of themselves." Blake then asked.

"And what if they win?"

"That was for when they win." This made her smile "Team RWBY, always an annoyance. Good day." The girls all said their goodbyes and he left for the exit only to stop before he opened the door and turn around to go to the battle ground exit. When he got their he saw Team JNPR had almost left the arena.

"Was that your attempt at an apology?" he called after them which made them all stop and spin round.

"Ah ha, you were watching that?" Jaune was concerned.

"Yes, first hand for the stands." He walked over to them and first looked at Nora "Miss Valkyrie, do you remember what I said to you about collateral damage?" she had a blank expression on her face

"Erm yeah, what's your point." With a sigh Andrew replied

"Never mind, I can see I'm wasting my time." This only served in making her grin with pride

"she has gotten better with-it professor."

"Maybe a little bit, I'm guessing I have you to thank for that Mr Ren?" with a bow he said

"I tried but I can only do so much."

"At least you listen to me. Thank-you." Andrew then looked over to Jaune

"I must say, you've improved immensely since you first stepped into my class Mr Arc."

"Really!" he seemed to light up so much with that comment.

"Without a doubt, now your at the level you should have been when you first arrived here. Don't think you can ease up on your training just yet."

"Ooooooo." The positive attitude he had vanished almost instantly.

"Ah, don't listen to him Jaune. Bet he's still annoyed at you for throwing your sword at him in our first class." With a groan he replied to Nora

"Thanks for reminding me, now I feel even better."

"Anytime!" Andrew shook his head in disbelief then looked over to Pyrrha.

"Miss Nikos."

"Yes, Professor Tinman?" a half smile appeared on his face.

"You did good, well done." She was surprised to hear him say that

"Erm… thankyou sir, I'm happy that you think so."

"Did he just praise someone?" Jaune looked at the rest of his team

"Indeed, we now have something over Team RWBY." Ren said with a prideful smile.

"Don't let it go to your heads." He joked

"We're sorry for disappointing you earlier…" Andrew raised his hand to cut Pyrrha off

"Your victory was your apology so there's no need for another one. Just promise me you won't be late again, got it." He got a collective "Yes sir" so he pointed to the exit. "Better get going, the other teams who WERE on time will be wanting to come through soon, don't want you getting in the way." He didn't even stay to see their response as he turned around the way he came in and left them to it but he did hear them sound rather pleased with themselves, so he knew what they would be saying.

When he was at the shuttles, he quickly boarded one and headed back down to the campus and used this time to respond to Ozpin telling him he was on his way. The journey didn't take long, and he was on the ground and heading towards the campus main courtyard feeling please with his students progress so far. He was always proud of them when they took part in the tournament but no student from Vale had won it in some years, so he was wondering if any of the teams this year could break that streak, if he was a betting man he would have said team JNPR. When he reached the campus entrance where the Atlas ship would arrive be quickly looked at his scroll to check the time seeing that it was getting late in the day and hoped they wouldn't be long. Nearly twenty minutes later he finally saw the ship come into view and waited for it to land.

As he stood there and watched the ship come down he wondered if he really was the best man for the job but eventually decided that if Ozpin had asked him to do this then he must be. With the ship on the ground he stood tall with his hands clasped behind his back and waited for the ramp to descend. When it did, a few soldiers exited the craft followed by a few mechs and then at long last the person he was sent to meet. The Atlas official who turned out to be Winter Schnee, he'd never met her before but knew all he needed to about her. When she was on the ground he waited for her to acknowledge him first which she did almost immediately

"Ah Professor Tinman I presume."

"Indeed Miss Schnee. Welcome to Vale." She showed utter contempt for him as she looked around the school behind him as if he wasn't even there. Knowing she was one of Ironwood's top agents and also one of the most loyal he could bet that Ironwood had given her a distorted view of him.

"Interesting. Why were you sent to meet us?"

"Head Master Ozpin has asked that I greet you and show you to his office. Also, he has asked that I look over all the items that you have brought with you to Vale."

"And why should I allow that?"

"Because he does not want any unknown weapons brought here without his knowledge. I trust you can understand this." He swore that he could hear her mouth clench and her eyes roll.

"Fine but you will not do anything until I have first passed this by Head Master Ozpin and General Ironwood. Understood?"

"Of course, Miss Schnee." He had learned his place in the world a long time ago, he was considered the lowest of the low and she, even though not the heiress anymore, was still a Schnee from the upper class of society. Doing anything untoward would only serve making her hate him even more than she already seemed to.

"Good, first let me report my arrival to the General then we can proceed to meet with Head Master Ozpin." Andrew said nothing and simply nodded his head, waiting for her to finish what she was doing while standing politely. Out of now where came a voice

"WINTER!" Andrew turned already knowing who was there, seeing Weiss coming over and was puzzled as to why Ruby was with her. They both ran passed him and never even notice he was there as Weiss greeted her sister, first like a normal girl then the way that was expected of her. Andrew stood by watching as they spoke and had to hold his laughter in as Weiss punched Ruby for giving a silly remark.

"Nor did I come here to watch my own blood fail so miserable in battle, but it appears I have no choice in the matter."

"But we won?" _Maybe your sister can get through to you where I never can_

"Only a novice would refer to that as a victory. I counted at least three strikes missed." Andrew then quickly replay the match through his cybernetic eye. _Meh, I'd say five but who's counting_

The rest of the conversation he tried to not eves drop on as it was only for them to discuss, he was amazed at how quiet Ruby was until she was included into the conversation in which she only served in humiliating herself further.

"I have business with the General and your Head Master, but seeing as I'm early, why don't to take me to your quarters. I trust that will not be a problem Professor Tinman?" It was odd how quickly she could change from a somewhat open personality to disgust at the very inclusion of him in her conversation.

"None Miss Schnee. In the meantime, I could inspect your cargo and remain here until you are ready." She wrinkled her noise as the thought of him going through Atlas property was revolting to her but a second later she replied with.

"Very well but I will be making sure that General Ironwood is well aware of your actions." Once again Andrew just nodded at the agreed upon conditions. "Now Weiss, take me to your accommodation." Weiss then went off with her sister and Andrew walked off over to the Atlas soldiers to ask for the manifest. When he turned back around he almost jumped out of what was left of his skin when he saw Ruby still standing there.

"Hello again professor, are you looking at Atlas tech? Are there any weapons? Can I look too?"

"No, this is an important matter and I've no time for your hyperactive behaviour. Can you just go and do what normal girls your age do like… go… shopping or…. talk to someone else….. about…. things." she contained a laugh

"You don't know much about teenage girls do you professor?"

"No and I'm glad about that fact." He then started to go over the manifest while trying to ignore Ruby at the same time.

"Soooo, you and Winter don't seem to get on." Andrew stopped, and his head slumped,

"You're not going make this easy, are you?" she didn't say anything and just smiled. "It's not her personally, it's what she is that I don't like." Ruby looked so confused that he was worried she might hurt herself from over thinking.

"A woman?" was her final reply. After a long pause she then added "Wait is THIS a rhetorical question?" Andrew smacked his face so hard with his left hand that it caused his cybernetic eye to glitch for a second.

"A military official."

"Ohhhh. Why? Their protecting the kingdoms too."

"To a degree yes but its more the fact that she trained to be a huntress and then joined the army."

"Still don't see the problem? They do the same thing don't they?" After taking a long breath Andrew explained.

"Hunters yes protect the kingdom's. They also protect all the towns and villages in the world because it is their duty to defend those who cannot protect themselves. They are not, or should not, be governed by politics. Soldiers are, yes they do defend and protect but they also attack and destroy."

"Sure, but they aren't evil."

"That's true but can you say the same thing about the ones in charge?" Ruby thought for a moment but didn't answer. "Soldiers obey the orders of the government or their superiors. For example, a force that is assigned as a security detail for a certain event in a foreign kingdom one day could become an invading army to that same kingdom the next day on the whim of their superiors. Hunters do not, they are a force for the people of this world so should never be tied to kingdom's own agenda's" After that Ruby looked sombre

"So, you don't like hunters who work for the army."

"I don't like hunters that forget their obligation." Ruby looked over to Weiss and Winter then back to him.

"I made you a promise that I wouldn't forget that, so I won't let you down by doing anything like that." Andrew sighed then half-smiled. He then put his hand on her shoulder.

"I know you won't, you could teach those Atlas special forces a thing or two. That's why I like you Ruby, all your team in fact. You've taken that to heart at such a young age that I'm confident you'll always be there for those that need it." She then had a mischievous smile on her face.

"Like me enough to forget about my mistake in the match earlier today?" He responded by flicking her ear. "Hay!"

"Don't push your luck." She then laughed

"I'm sorry about letting you down sir, it won't happen again." Andrew covered his face with his hand.

"Its fine but if you want to make it up to me then go off and have some fun elsewhere and leave me to my work." She took the message and started to walk off.

"See you later Professor Tinman!" Andrew gave her a quick wave then went back to work. It wasn't long until one of the soldiers guarding the ship walked over to the edge of the platform and said

"What's going on over there?" Andrew looked around and saw what looked like the start of a fight. He handed the soldier the manifest he was looking through.

"Don't worry about it, I'm going to deal with it and if it involves who I think it does then I'm going to kill her." The solider didn't respond and let him march away. _I swear, team RWBY has gotten it in their heads they can get away with anything now. Well I'm about to prove them wrong!_ When he got close he had to push his way through the crowd to get to the front and when he did, he was about to explode. That was until he saw that Winter Schnee was fighting Qrow Branwen. _Oh, I've got to watch this!_

He suddenly became so happy at this spectacle that he forgot that it was his responsibly to break it up, it was an intense fight which took over almost the whole courtyard and he was loving every second of it. It was so much fun that it was only when he saw with his cybernetic eye that Ironwood was on his way and Qrow had put his sword away. Winter made one last attack until she was called off by Ironwood. _Damn, it was just about to get good._

When Ozpin and Glynda arrived, he knew he had to start behaving like a professor again. Once the whole situation had been calmed down and the courtyard was fixed did Andrew move over to Qrow but was beaten by Ruby. She attached herself to his arm and Andrew couldn't help but think Qrow was her father as they seemed so much alike.

"Branwen!" he shouted in a livid tone. Qrow turned to look at him then rolled his head.

"What do you want Tinman?" Qrow's tone was that of annoyance.

"Was that necessary? All that fuss? I can see where Miss Rose gets it from now. You spent so much time with her that she's picking up terrible habits from you!"

"Get off my back would you, jeez you're such a frigging wet blanket." Ruby dropped of Qrow's arm and was starting to get visibly upset.

"That's rich, the town drunk is telling me to lighten up. Miss Rose, I hope that this fool isn't responsible for all your faults?" she was completely shocked as Qrow pointed his finger and stabbed it at Andrew's chest.

"Hay back off! Don't you ever speak to my niece like that again! Don't take anything from this bucket of bolts Ruby, he's just a miserable little man who only gets joy from other people sadness."

"Compared to your life I'm the happiest man alive. How's your wife by the way?" with that Qrow punched Andrew as hard as he could in the gut making a loud metallic clang. Andrew let out a grunt and fell to one knee.

"OH MY GOD UNCLE QROW WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!" Ruby was so shocked that Andrew felt bad when he looked up at Qrow.

"Bucket of bolts? You know you've used that three times this year."

"If it isn't broke don't fix it. Besides, town drunk? You've had months to come up with something and that's the best you got?" Andrew and Qrow then let out a loud laugh and Qrow pulled him to his feet. "Good to see you sulky." Andrew smiled back

"Right back at you." They then embraced in a friendly hug as they laugh some more. When they finished they looked at Ruby who had gone through all of this not knowing that it was all an act with a face that was indescribable. Somewhere between confusion and panic.

"Don't worry kido, me and this tin can go way back. Just some friendly banter between us."

"That was friendly?"

"Nothing special, I hope you've been making his life hell in class."

"erm… yeah… well somewhat." Andrew glanced at Qrow

"I thought dealing with you was bad enough now I've got a Qrow in training to deal with. I suddenly have newfound pity and respect for our teachers back in the day."

"Meh, it's all in the job." Before they could say another word, they heard Ozpin call them.

"If you two are quite finished then can we have a word with Qrow please." Qrow then leaned into Ruby

"I think I'm in trouble?"

"You did kind of tear up our courtyard."

"Yeah, I did. Catch you later kid" and with a quick fist bump with Ruby, Qrow and Andrew started to head off after Ozpin.

"I'm glad your back Qrow, its been some time since your last message."

"Yeah well it happens when your busy trying to track down monsters. Anyway, how have you been?"

"Up and down, mostly down but what's new. Yourself?"

"Meh, all right." They walked on and noticed the amount of people staring at them and Andrew started to chuckle. "Something funny?" Qrow asked

"Just you, you know how to make an entrance. Things are going to be interesting now your back."

"For sure." After a few more steps Qrow added "Oh and by the way, happy birthday." Andrew snarled

"Screw you." Which made Qrow laugh

"You at least like your present right? Showing up Ironwood or any of his toy soldiers always make you happy, right?" Andrew looked at him and half smiled.

"Yeah, couldn't have got me anything better. Thanks friend."


	32. Whatever maybe, I'll be there

Andrew was waiting in Ozpins office for Qrow to arrive along with Glynda and Ozpin, he was leaning against one of the pillars in the room watching Ironwood and Winter. Her pacing back and forth was entertaining as seeing one of Ironwood's top operatives getting annoyed only served in annoying him even more. Andrew's half smile was difficult to hide so he had just given up on trying to, it was focused at Ironwood who wasn't paying him any attention for he was also eagerly awaiting Qrow's arrival. None of them said a word to each other knowing that just one word was enough to cause this room to erupt. When the elevator opened revealing Qrow the silence was finally broken.

"What were you thinking!"

"If you had been one of my men, I would have had you shot." Neither of the Atlas personnel looked pleased.

"If I was one of you men I would shoot myself." Qrow's retort now made Andrew laugh aloud.

"You're not helping Andrew!" Glynda's voice shot right at him and pierced his very soul causing him to cough and return to his silent smirking. There was a brief exchange over the fight that had broken out then the conversation shifted to the question on everyone's mind

"Qrow, why are you here?" Ironwood and Qrow then started to argue over his resent assignment and Andrew felt his head begin to pound, the clash of egos wasn't getting them anywhere fast. When Winter tried to enter the conversation, she was immediately denied and told to leave the office which she did with a hint of reluctance.

Once gone the tone of the conversation shifted to a more professional attitude as Qrow told them about the person he had been chasing. Andrew moved closer to the group from where he had been standing as he now felt this was the main point of this meeting. Hearing that the one who had been behind these recent incidents in the city was also the one who attack Amber made his blood run cold.

Qrow then began a speech that was focused more on Ironwood than the others present as he tried to explain to him how this brotherhood truly acted. Ironwood then activated his hologram from his scroll via Ozpin's desk to show off his fleets defences of Vale and he tried to explain what he deemed necessary.

"Military occupation is what we need? Wow, I never would have thought that?" Andrew was being sarcastic and Ironwood bit.

"I am protecting the people of Vale. Say whatever you want, I know that this was the right thing to do to stop those monsters."

"You think they're scared of your little ships!" Andrew moved away from the hologram as Qrow and Ozpin spoke about what the people would be thinking over what had been amassed around Vale and what it could lead to. Ironwood looked annoyed and retrieved his scroll and asked

"What do you suggest we do?"

"I suggest we find our guardian." Andrew's mind began to race knowing what Ozpin was implying.

"Easier said than done." Ironwood wasn't convinced but didn't object to what was said.

"I for one am against it." Andrew now speaking his own mind for the first time this meeting which gave him some interesting stares

"You think we have a choice?" Qrow asked

"Yes, we do. We can choose not to sacrifice a life for our mistake and do what is expected of us and protect this world." Ozpin gave him a sombre look, like he agreed but disagreed at the same time

"I know how you feel about this, I do, but we cannot leave things as they are. This is a much too delicate situation to simply ignore."

"Ozpin is right Andrew, this is something that needs to be done." Glynda added while looking remorseful so Andrew turned to face away from them knowing he was outvoted.

"Your stubborn attitude to face was should be done for the greater good is only going to cost more lives if you don't see the importance of this." Now it was Andrew's turn to snap at Ironwood. He span around and charged towards Ironwood, grabbing his coat and pulling him closer to him

"Like you care one bit! This is all just another science experiment to you! Doesn't matter whose live you screw up, as long as you get what you want!"

"That's enough Andrew! Let him go!" Ozpin's voice was not the calming tone he was used to, this was someone who commanded authority. Andrew, whose cybernetic eye was the colour of blood right now blinked and it returned to its normal white. He let go of Ironwood who hadn't resisted at all during this and took a few steps back from everyone.

"I'm not apologising for speaking the truth. Mark my words, if anyone is going to cost innocents their lives then it won't be me." Before he could say anything, else Ozpin finished their meeting there.

"It appears we are all getting worked up over this so let's call an end to this meeting before we say things we will later regret." The others agreed and began to leave the office but as Andrew was reaching the elevator Ozpin spoke up

"No, you stay here Andrew." He stopped instantly and Qrow looked at him then Ozpin and finally back to him.

"Catch you later."

"Maybe." With that exchange the others entered the elevator and the doors sealed them off from. Andrew stood with his back to Ozpin, only hearing him walk over to get himself another cup of tea. He stood perfectly still as he heard the water flow from the pot to the cup and a gentle stirring of a spoon followed by a few clinks as he was tapped against the side of the mug.

"I'm not going to agree to this. You know that." Andrew never moved and once again listened to the sound of Ozpin walking back to his desk, but he never sat down.

"What we will do is something that will forever hang over our heads. Unfortunately, it is also something that must be done, we cannot let that kind of power be unleashed onto the world under the control of her." Andrew slowly turned around just in time to see Ozpin stop by his window.

"I know that, but we haven't even tried to think of another way around this. Why don't we try to find the attacker and with all of us we should be able to subdue her?"

"Because we would be putting many people in danger and there is no guarantee that we could subdue her. Right now, time is on their side, so we can't waste ours on something that only has the slightest chance of working."

"But why of all people are we deferring to Ironwood. He's not someone who can be trusted. What if this is all a ploy to obtain the rest of the power for his true master?" Ozpin sighed and took a sip of his tea.

"He is not our enemy. You must let this go. Its already compromising your judgements as proven today in the courtyard." Before Andrew could defend himself, Ozpin continued "You were there and instead of stopping that spectacle you watched as Qrow and Miss Schnee battled, if you were thinking like a professor and not like a paranoid doomsayer then you would have stopped that fight before we had to interfere."

"Like I could stop Qrow in a fight. He's better than me."

"That is not the reason and you know it." Andrew dropped his head "You wanted to cause a scene and make Both Miss Schnee and James look bad."

"She needed to be scolded for letting Qrow work her up like that."

"Really? Then why didn't you do it? I know that is something you would have taken some joy in."

"Because she's not my responsibility, she's his. Let him deal with his own subordinates."

"Even at the expense of all the people around them?" Andrew paused "What if that fight had injured someone else? Would you have done something about it then or blame Ironwood for letting them fight?" Andrew couldn't think of a response, now that he thought about it he had put people in trouble just so that he could see Ironwood look like a fool. With no answer given Ozpin took another sip of his tea

"I'm getting worried about you Andrew; your emotions are all over the place lately and its starting to affect your judgements and actions."

"I know. Its not like me. I'm just scared." Ozpin titled his head in surprise.

"Scared?" Andrew nodded

"There's so much happening that we can't figure out what's going to happen next and I don't want to see people suffer because we failed them."

"That is why we must do this Andrew. If we do nothing, then people will be in danger." Andrew sighed

"Damned if we do and damned if we don't."

"Not what I'd say but I understand what you're feeling. But please, you need to calm yourself. Seeing danger in your colleges where there is none will only make you even more unstable and if that happens then I will have to watch as you undo years of hard work." He stood up and walked over to Andrew and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "None of us want you to fall. We all care."

Andrew couldn't do that, not to himself or to his friends and especially to his students. Taking a deep breath, he released it as a loud "Arrg" and looked at Ozpin with a half-smile.

"Why does it always end like this, me coming to my senses when you spell it out for me. Why can't I ever do it myself?" Ozpin laughed

"That is a question only you can answer, I can't solve that one for you." The pair exchanged a short laugh and Andrew turned to leave.

"I'll think about what you said. I'm going to spend some time on my own if I can over the next few days, so I can think things over. I think all the excitement from today has taken me… off balance."

"Indeed, take your time." Before he got to the elevator Ozpin said "I hope you had a pleasant birthday none the less."

"As well as I ever can." With that he left the office and returned to his flat, he didn't bump into anyone else on his way but that failed almost instantly when he heard Qrow's voice outside the tower

"So, did you get a telling off from Oz?"

"More a sort of calm down. He didn't want me getting all worked up, you know." He knew that Qrow understood the particulars of his condition as they started walking together.

"Still did you have a good birthday?" Andrew shrugged his shoulders

"I guess, was definitely more eventful than last year."

"Get anything nice?"

"Nah, although I did end up watching most of the matches at the arena today. It was fun seeing them live for once."

"Wish I had the time to just lay around and watch the tournament but we proper hunters always have work to do."

"Say what you want, I know you were just drinking somewhere out of the way, so no one could see you."

"Oh no, you found me out." Qrow let out a laugh showing he didn't care "Still it's nice to see you enjoy your birthday for once. I know it's not your favourite day of the year, but I think you really need to think about what this day truly means to you." Andrew scoffed, Qrow was still drunk as he was trying to sound philosophical so they continued their walk chatting about nothing at all. When he finally arrived at his empty flat, he sighed.

"Home sweet home."

He walked over to his desk and sat in his chair as a small half smile appeared on his face. He thought about what Qrow had said to him about what this day really meant to him, it wasn't just the day he was born but also the day he truly found his family. He slipped into his memories of the first birthday he had while at Beacon and remembered how his team mates acted as though it was any other day. He'd never told them when his birthday was as he didn't like to celebrate it, this day was one he would sooner let pass by without a second thought. The day was just like any other, he got up and ready for a day of lessons, met up with his other friends like Qrow and Tia and spent time with Carissa, finally returning to this dorm room. When he entered he was shocked to see all his team mates were waiting for him and each held a wrapped present in their hands.

"What are you guys doing?" he asked to which they all smiled and said at once

"Happy Birthday!" he winced at what was said and instinctively went to protect his face only for them to wonder what was going on

"What is wrong? Did we do something we should not have?" Ulysses was visibly worried he had upset Andrew. Lauren was the one to walk over to him and gently pulled his arms from his face to reveal a face filled with terror, but she didn't recoil, she just simply smiled back at him.

"Not big on surprises are you sulky? Okay we'll try again. It's your birthday and we thought we should get you something so commemorate this occasion." Andrew slightly relaxed his face and glance quickly at each one.

"Come on Andrew, it's all right. Why don't you sit down?" Chris moved to the side to let Andrew through to his bed still without saying anything. After a while the three of them gave each other concerned looks so Chris decided to speak up "Would you like to open your presents?"

"Why?" Andrews answer startled them

"Erm, because that's the whole point of presents?" Lauren said while holding hers

"That's not what I mean, why have you got me presents?"

"Because it is your birthday Andrew." Ulysses looked so happy that Andrew couldn't figure out what was going on.

"But why are you giving me presents? Don't people give presents to their loved ones?" Chris chuckled

"Yeah you can, you also give presents to the ones you care about. Family and friends. Is this strange?" Andrew sighed

"I suppose you do."

"So, what's the problem?" Andrew felt it was difficult to explain but was saved when Chris added "It doesn't matter right now, just open them. We can talk about this later." Lauren was the first one to give him his present.

"Mine first!" as Andrew took it gingerly he noticed it was some kind of box that rattled as he took it, it wasn't very big or heavy, but it didn't need to be. He looked around his team and then began to open it, slowly and methodically. Once the wrapping had been removed it was shown to indeed be a box, a small wooden box with a simple decorative pattern around the edges. He checked it all over and suddenly Lauren, who couldn't contain herself any more almost shouted

"Open it!" her excited face showed that Andrew had nothing to fear so opened the box showing a collection of sweets. "Their sour ones! You know the ones you like! It's really funny when you eat them because you look so different, not sulky at all!" Andrew was quiet as he looked at them in the box which caused Lauren to say, "I know it's not much, but I couldn't think of anything else to get you" With that she noticed a stream of tears falling down the side of his face. "Hay I didn't think that would upset you!" she immediately sat next to him and put her arm around his shoulders but before she could say anything Andrew said

"As my first ever Birthday present, its perfect." She was so stunned by this that she had no words to say.

"In that case I think mine will be rather shabby in comparison." Ulysses was holding his present in both hands and looked reluctant to give it to Andrew. Chris smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

"Don't be silly." Ulysses looked up at Chris and then Andrew who was now staring right at him with a smile on his face and still with a few tears on his face.

"If it's from you Ulysses then I know it will be great." Ulysses handed him the present which was rectangle shaped and not very thick. Andrew started to open it a little quicker than he had with Lauren's and when it was open he felt tears once again as he looked upon something he's forgotten about. It was a picture frame, very simple and grey in colour but with a photo already inside it.

"Do you remember that day?" Andrew couldn't look Ulysses in the eyes but smiled and said

"Oh yeah." It was a picture of all four of them, the setting was in an arcade with brightly coloured lights all over the place from all the machines. At the very front of the picture was Lauren who was also taking the picture from above as her right arm was out stretched holding the camera. Her left arm was around Ulysses who had a toothy smile so big that it looked like he had more teeth than he did, he was also holding a stuffed Grimm Beowolf which Lauren have won for him that cover up most of his body. Behind Lauren stood Chris who had one hand on her right shoulder, his smile seemed more like a laugh and he even have his eyes closed like he had been interrupted. His other hand was behind Andrews back who was standing Behind Ulysses. Andrew's face was a contrast to the others as he was smiling but it was as though he had only heard what smiling was from a book, it was forced, and he was even waving with his left hand. He remembered that as he wasn't quite sure how to pose for the spontaneous photo and tried his best given the circumstances.

"I like that photo as it was the day we first felt like a team. I thought you would like it as a keepsake for that day." Andrew couldn't take his eyes off it, it was true that it was that day they grew closer as a team, but it was also the day he really upset Ulysses and almost forced his team to try and kick him out.

"It really means that much to you?" He asked, and Ulysses nodded so Andrew asked, "But I was terrible to you that day, how could you look back on that and feel happy." The way how Ulysses looked back at him it was like he'd asked a stupid question.

"It was the day you called me friend." His silly smile was infectious as Andrew found himself smiling back at him. Before he could say another word, Chris patted his present he was holding.

"Right my turn. Here you go partner." He gave him the present with an overconfident grin like he knew Andrew was going to like it. It was larger but softer than the other ones, so Andrew assumed it was something like clothes and when he opened it he saw he was right. It was a fine looking dark green jacket, it must have been brand new as it smelt like a clothing store.

"Put it on then. Need to see if it suits you." Andrew sighed, stood up and put the jacket on, it was comfortable and felt like it was made for him as it fit perfectly. "Not bad." Chris was impressed with his choice.

"I like it!" Ulysses was nodding approvingly. Andrew then turned to look towards Lauren who was still sitting on the bed, she was in thought and tilted her head left and right.

"I suppose he couldn't look much worse."

"I'm still better looking than you then" he replied

"Keep telling yourself that sulky, whatever helps you sleep at night." This made him laugh as Chris came over to him and adjusted his new jacket across his chest.

"I thought you could do with something that you could wear and be proud of and I must say I think this really works on you." Looking at his sleeves then down his chest.

"Thanks, it's great." Andrew said as Chris laughed

"It's important you know." Andrew looked puzzled so Chris added "The best hunters are the ones who fight in style."

Before the day was over though he had a visit from Carissa, since he was the only one who was surprised to see her he figured that his team had asked her to stop by.

"Hi again Carissa, what brings you here?" he had a feeling but thought he would ask anyway.

"Oh nothing really, I just heard that it was someone's birthday. Wasn't sure whose though." Her smile was sly and then she gave him another present.

"You didn't have to do that. Just being with you is all I ever wanted." She smiled

"That's just boring and a certain hairy team leader told me we had to make this day special." She looked over to Chris who once again looked proud of himself. She then handed him his present which was a small box and when he opened it he was a little baffled by what he saw. It looked like a small grey stone with four different patterns surrounding a fifth pattern that seemed to be four concentric circles.

"Erm thanks" she shook her head

"Take it out of the box" he did as he was told and found it was attached to a thin black string that formed a loop. It was a type of necklace and as he looked at it Carissa held his hand that was holding it. "Look" she then began to point at each of the patterns around the edge. "This is the symbol for water, fire, earth and air with this one in the centre representing the harmony and balance between them all."

"Interesting" Carissa shock her head

"You don't see it do you?" Andrew hesitated and shook his head "Each of the elements represents me and your teammates and the centre is you. Together we will always be there to help keep you together, in harmony and balance." Andrew looked at her then the necklace now that he knew what it meant.

"I see." He made a brief chuckle and looked at each of his team in turn then back to Carissa, she appeared to be confused until he held her chin and kissed her. Her confusion lasted for only a moment then she embraced him as he did her. It would have been better he thought if Lauren was cheering behind him, but this was where he wanted to be, from now till forever.

Coming back to the present he looked around his flat then down at his desk. Sitting on the corner of it was an upturned picture frame so he sat it up properly to see the picture beneath, the one from the day at the arcade. Looking at it for a few minutes he quietly thought and then noticed the jacket he was wearing; the same one he had always worn as a teacher. It was looking worn now and there were a few rip's here and there but other than that it hadn't changed one bit.

As he went to retire for the evening he hung up his jacket on a hanger above his wardrobe and turned to his bed seeing a familiar wooden box that no longer held sweets but his small personal items. He sat on his bed and grabbed the box looking it over and then opened it revealing a few items inside, one such thing was his wedding ring, but he purposefully ignored that and instead picked out his necklace and held it aloft.

"Harmony and balance" he said to himself. "I think I need this more than I thought right now." He pushed aside his memories and was about to place it back in the box but stopped for several moments.

"No, I think I'm going to need this. Ozpin was right, I can't be like this right now so maybe a little help from this will focus me to do what needs to be done." Even though he was about to go to sleep he put the necklace on in hopes it would do what it was supposed to and ease him and then fell back in his bed.

 _When was the last time I wore this?_ He wondered this and soon fell into a dreamless sleep.

The next day he awoke feeling not much different from the previous day, but he hadn't been dreaming so it must have done something, even with him in an emotionally compromised state. He readied himself for the day and left for his office.

He spent a few hours there trying to get some work done but it was a distraction from his thoughts over what they were all planning. He detested the idea but the more he thought about it the more he saw that it might be the only way to save the kingdom. He didn't get to much done in relation to how much he still had to do but it was more than he had in the last several days so as a victory treat he left for the arena again to watch some more fights.

When he arrived, he was glad to see that he'd arrived just in time to see team CFVY was participating in a battle against one of Mistral's teams that he didn't know. The fight was brutal, and it was becoming clear to him that it was more one sided that he originally thought as the Mistral pair, Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black, dominated the fight. Eventually Yatshuhashi was defeated leaving only Coco to deal with the pair but even still Andrew hoped she could pull it around. This was dashed as she was soon defeated too and the round was over giving Mistral the win. Andrew let go of the railings he was wasn't aware he had gripped so tightly that he saw his cybernetic hand had dented the bar.

"Oops" he whispered to himself and then looked back up hear a series of cheers and boos. He did neither and just clapped his hands for the victory the other team had won and for a great effort from Coco and Yatshuhashi. This took the wind out of his sails for it was the first fight he witnessed where Vale had lost but it was to be expected as the teams that had all made it through to this round were very strong. Leaving the audience area, he went to the combat arena exit to see the pair as they left.

When he saw them, they looked pretty sorry for themselves until the spotted Andrew and then changed to shame.

"Sorry professor." Yatshuhashi kept his head bowed and Coco looked about ready to burst into anger.

"Why are you saying sorry?" Andrew asked which made Coco snap

"Because we lost! Didn't you see that!" the look on her face a moment later showed she regretted her words but they were out now.

"So what. I saw you both fight extraordinarily well and you gave it your all. You can't apologise for being at your best."

"We still lost." Andrew turned to Yatshuhashi

"Even in loss we learn. Use this experience to learn what you can do to make sure that you won't loose again." They didn't seem to much better off than when they came out but he could tell they were thinking over what he had said. "Remember your fight with Reginald?" he said which made Coco shudder

"Don't remind me, I hated that lesson."

"And I remember you facing off with a Beowolf in Vale that could have been Reginald's twin without flinching. You overcame that defeat and used what you learned to save the people of this Kingdom, in my eyes that's a thousand times better than wining this over glorified slap fight. That is what I care about so in that case you still come out as winners for me." They gave each other a more pleased look than they had before.

"Your right Professor. Thanks" Andrew chuckled

"Although now you're out of the tournament you can get back to your school work so don't stand about here, go on get to it." He pointed towards the exit

"Thanks for reminding us." Yatshuhashi tone was sarcastic but Andrew didn't care as he could see the smirks on both their faces as they left. After witnessing this fight, he thought it was time to leave the arena for it no longer held any entertainment value to him. He respected all the teams who took part but like a true fan he only wanted to see his teams win.

Spending the rest of the day in his office he tried to get as much work done as possible while the classes were still off for the festival. Once it was over he would have to start teaching classes again and his paperwork would soon build up to the level it was used to. He spent so long there that it was getting dark before he realised.

"Damn." He stretched his arms and cracked his neck. "I think I've done enough for today." He then let his office feeling better about what he'd accomplished. Not seeing anyone today had help him relax his mind and doing all of his work helped him focus on what needed to be done, in all he was feeling more like himself.

As he was walking home across the courtyard he saw Weiss waving at what was unmistakably Winters ship departing from Beacon, he hoped that she went straight back to Atlas. The last thing he needed round here was another trigger-happy Atlas military personnel with a chip on their shoulder. Weiss was facing away from him and looked briefly at her scroll then back up to the world around her, he didn't know why but it was none of his concern. She then turned around and was startled by him walking behind her.

"Professor Tinman." She smiled and gave a quick bow

"No need for that Miss Schnee. What are you doing out here anyway? Isn't it getting quite late?" she looked back up at the rapidly disappearing ship for only a moment then back to him.

"I was just seeing my sister off." Andrew of course knew that but nodded all the same.

"Very well, then I'll take my leave." As he was about to say good night and leave for his flat she interrupted.

"Professor, I would like to apologise for the way my sister treated you when she arrived. She didn't mean anything by it simply that she is like that with everyone she meets for the first time"

 _Or because Ironwood told her not to trust me or let me rile her up_. He knew what she thought of him as Ironwood would have told her his opinion of him and that would have been enough. Instead he let Weiss apologise for Winter, letting her believe that this was the matter.

"No need Miss Schnee. Your sister has many responsibilities and I know how that can affect you, especially in a position like hers."

"Still I feel as though I owe you that apology. If she knew you like I did then I doubt she would have behaved the way she did."

 _No, that would have made her worse._ Andrew tried to contain his laughter, but it manifested as a half-smile.

"Do you per fess to know a lot about me then?" she looked a little embarrassed by that statement.

"No not like that but if she knew what kind of man you were then she would have respected you."

"Hmm, well we'll have to see about that." He looked up into the sky wondering if he would even see her again, but it seemed doubtful. "You are very close with your sister it seems. Must be nice to have an older sibling."

"Indeed, she and I are very close." She didn't say anymore for a few seconds then added "You don't have any siblings I take it?"

"No, it's just me." Andrew was now looking at Weiss "I know she was hard on you over your first tournament match, but I could tell instantly how proud she was of you. Your father must be as well." He only meant it to be a compliment, but he instantly saw the hint of disappointment on her face.

"I don't think so. He never like the fact that either of us became huntresses." Andrew didn't know much about her father apart from what he knew as a member of the public, although Qrow had told him some less than pleasant facts about him.

"It may seem that way but I'm sure he does." Weiss snapped

"No, he really doesn't! When Winter graduated Atlas and joined the special ops group, father disowned her as heiress to the Schnee Dust company. He felt the same way about me which is one of the reasons I came here, to get away from him." Andrew jerked his head back in surprise at this honesty from Weiss and she immediately regained her composure. "I'm sorry for that outburst professor." Andrew gave her a quick look and it wasn't hard to tell she was upset by something and it had been triggered by mention of her farther. He looked around the area they were standing a saw some benches nearby.

"No, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. Look would you like to talk about this? We can sit down over there." She was hesitant but after a few moments she agreed. When they sat down, Andrew made sure that he was sitting at her left side so that his real face was facing her. He didn't like having people suck staring at his cybernetic face after all, he hated it even more and had to put up with it every day.

"Tell me if I'm over stepping here Miss Schnee but I can sense you have issues with you father, correct?" She scoffed

"That's putting it lightly." Andrew sighed

"I see, I guess that he didn't have much time for you whilst running your company?"

"Only when he needed us for something otherwise all we got was his anger when he came home. It wasn't pleasant." Andrew felt a chill down his spine and had to ask

"Did he ever lash out in anger at you or your sister?"

"Nothing more than shouting." Andrew placed his hand on her shoulder and she looked him in his eyes.

"You don't have to hide anything from me, if he did hurt you then you can tell me." She shook her head.

"No, he wouldn't do anything like that. If his children appeared to the public bruised, then he wouldn't look good and he would never want his personal image to be ruined." Andrew sighed

"That's good, I got worried then." Now it was Weiss' turn to ask him

"Are you okay sir?" Andrew glanced at her

"I was just concerned that he hurt you."

"Well you have nothing to worry about." Weiss then proceeded to tell Andrew about what her father was like and why she had to get away from him. It was a long chat and Andrew began to sympathise with her and when she was finished she said

"Thanks for letting me vent, I didn't mean to take up your time professor." Andrew decided to let her know why he was still nervous about her wellbeing around her father.

"That is perfectly fine Miss Schnee. To be honest you are not the only one who has had father issues." She clicked on instantly

"Your farther was difficult too?" _He was evil_. He chose not to mention everything, but he wanted her to know she wasn't alone.

"It's not easy to speak about my relationship with him but suffice to say he wasn't a caring man. I left him a long time ago and haven't looked back since. That is why I was anxious about you, I wanted to make sure you were okay. You were at least better off than me with your sister and I'm very relieved to know you were never physically hurt."

"That may be, but it still wasn't a great childhood growing up."

"I know, and I want you to know that if you ever have and problems like this then all you need to do is give me a call. I'll drop everything if necessary." She gave him a genially warm smile, he couldn't help but feel this way towards her. The way his father treated him had broken him when he was younger, and it was only through his teammates did he become vaguely normal. Now seeing it all over again brought all this feelings and memories to the surface, he wasn't going to turn a blind eye to someone else who needed help.

"Thank you, sir. That means a lot to me." She wasn't sure what to do next so smiled back.

"Still you would think he was impressed with his daughters' skills as a huntress. You have a lot of potential, all you need is to train some more and master your semblance then you'll be getting there."

"I know, Winter told me the same thing earlier. I just have problems with summoning's but other than that I believe I'm quick capable." Andrew laughed

"Summoning's. From past experience I know they can be tricky to master." She looked surprised

"You can summon as well?!" Andrew shook his head

"No not me but I have taught students who had similar semblances. It's all about control of emotions and depth of memories." _Two things I myself can't handle at all!_

"I would appreciate it if you could find the time to help me train that ability. If you have the time to do so of course." Andrew half-smiled

"If I can help you then sure but wait till classes start up again. There's no rush right now." Weiss nodded

"Of course." She looked happy, like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

"I will say this though, if your father isn't proud of you for being a huntress then that's his fault. I for one am very proud of you, not only for how you're growing as a huntress but how you are maturing as a young woman. From the first day you came here, you've changed and improved so much that I know that you're going to be a great person when you graduate. When you go out into the world I'll be happy just to have known you and been there to guide you here at Beacon." There was a silence between them for a while and Andrew thought he's said something weird. _I've got to learn to shut up when my mind goes off into these strange tangents._

Before he could do anything, she had lunged at him and put her arms around his torso. He had raised his arms out of the way in shock and could feel she wasn't going to let him go. He looked at his hands and then slowly and awkwardly put his cybernetic arm around her shoulders and his real hand on her head. For some reason, it didn't feel as weird as it should have and suddenly he heard a few sobs come up from his jacket. _What's going on? I really hope Qrow doesn't turn up now._

They were like this for a couple of minutes until he felt her release her arms a bit and thought he could escape.

"Come on now, no need to get sappy. What would your team mates think if they saw you like this?" He heard her laugh then she fully let go and sat up properly as she tried to wipe away her tears. Andrew sighed and held out his arm "I don't have a tissue but if you want to wipe you face with this thing then go ahead." She laughed again as he pulled his jacket away from his arm

"Thank you but I'll be okay sir." He half smiled at her

"I know you will be." He then looked at his watch and noticed he had kept her here for some time "Right, it's really getting late now so I think you should head back to your dorm room. You need plenty of rest if you're participating in the doubles round." She then looked at her scroll and saw the time as well.

"Oh yes, you're right. Looks like Ruby has been wondering where I went off to."

"She might be annoying but her hearts in the right place. Go on off with you." He waved her off with the same half smile. She nodded and looked back at him

"Yes sir" and she stood up as he did. As they went their separate ways Weiss stopped and called out

"Professor Tinman." Andrew stopped and turned around, he didn't say anything but calmly waited for her to continue. "I… I just wanted to say… thank you… again. For everything." He sighed

"No thanks required. It's what I'm here for." The next thing that came out of her mouth caught him completely off guard.

"I wish you had been my father." She instantly blushed so red he was worried she might actually explode. Weiss quickly turned around and started walking away much faster than normal. Andrew stood frozen with a panicked look on his face

"That was… unexpected" he couldn't move. It was like his entire body, well the parts of him that were still him, had gone completely numb and he was watching this moment from some faraway place.

 _A father? Really?!_ Before his mind could begin contemplating that statement, he thought it best to return to his flat and sleep this off before anything else happened to him.


	33. The Chosen One

Andrew couldn't help but feel like everything around him was tumbling out of his control, the more he thought about it the more it appeared he was going to explode from the madness swimming around his mind. The fact they he was even considering what Ozpin and the others were planning made him feel sick, the very act itself was against what he believed in. On the other hand, he knew that they couldn't just sit around and do nothing, this was something that Qrow told him over and over was necessary.

"You have to trust Ozpin with this." Qrow was sitting in his flat with his feet up on a small coffee table while Andrew was making some adjustments to his cybernetic arm with a small collection of tools.

"I've always trusted him I just don't trust Ironwood." Andrew answered which made Qrow snort.

"I'm no fan of his either but he's not about to help the enemy. Oz assures me that he has the kingdoms best interests at heart."

"He's going to take over, he's already got the city council on his side. He's playing us with this experiment and when it "fails" then it'll all come to light."

"Ah, you're impossible." Andrew didn't look up as he picked up a screw driver and started to alter his lower cybernetic bicep connections. This was routine maintenance that he needed to do, and he'd done it a hundred times before, so he was fine talking with Qrow while he worked.

"I'm just being realistic." He said as Qrow took a sip of his drink

"I don't agree with you, but I will be happy when he's gone back to Atlas. Whenever he's around things seemed to get heated." Andrew grunted as he carefully continued his work. "What did Oz tell you after we left the other night anyway?" Andrew looked up for a moment then right back to work.

"I told you everything he said to me."

"I was just wondering if he'd told you who he'd chosen, I think he's made his decision." Andrew paused

"Really?" he was nervous and Qrow sensed his change in mood

"Yeah, he told me and Glynda, so I just assumed he'd said something to you." Andrew continued working and sighed

"If he told you two and not me then it means its someone I'd disapprove of."

"No, I think it's because it's someone you care about and that's why he won't tell you." He stopped

"That's even worse." Qrow swirled his drink and was quiet for a while as Andrew continued with his maintenance. Finally, he said

"I wonder if this is why he moved Ruby ahead a few years?" Andrew snapped up to look at him.

"What?!" suddenly his hand slipped, and his cybernetic forearm slammed into his bicep, catching his hand in-between with a loud crash. This was drowned out by Andrews cry.

"ARGH!" as he tried to pull his hand free.

"Oh crap!" Qrow shot up and was next to Andrew in a flash. "What happened?!"

"Just pull it apart!" Andrew shouted and Qrow put all his strength into separating the arm. After nearly a minute of trying, the arm snapped back open as if a spring had released it. Andrew pulled his hand away and waved it in the air for a few seconds and then looked at it, skin wasn't broken so he took that as a plus, but it was already turning an ugly colour he was still in a lot of pain. It was like his hand had been caught in a car door.

"Ouch! That's going to leave a bloody bruise!" he tried to move his fingers and only his little and ring finger seemed to really be in pain with the left side of his hand where it was crushed.

"You think its broken?" Qrow asked which made Andrew looked up at him and then back to his hand.

"Not sure, I don't think so." As he looked it over both sides. He then went to hold it with his right hand but sighed in annoyance as his scraped across the desk. Without his mechanical bicep working his forearm never lifted although his hand still functioned fine. Before he could say anything else in anger Qrow put his hand on his shoulder.

"Hay, take it easy okay. You want me to finish this up?" he asked as he pointed to his half functioning arm. Andrew looked at his arm then to his battered hand.

"Please. I can't do anything with that hand right now." Qrow pulled up a chair and once he was sitting down picked up from where Andrew had left off, with the added task of fixing the piece that had disconnected in the struggle. They were quiet for a long time as Qrow worked and Andrew tried to focus on something else other than the pain in his hand. When Andrew looked over to Qrow, he looked like he was responsible for this, it was a picture of someone being sorry for themselves.

"Sorry for this Qrow, I shouldn't have been half paying attention to this. I'm such a wreck right now that I think I'm going to do something stupid soon if I don't watch my emotions." Qrow didn't look but said

"It's fine." He never stopped working but added "I thought you weren't such a fan of my niece. That outburst seems to say otherwise."

"She's annoying, careless and thinks she can get away with it. Something I think she picked up from her uncle." Before he could laugh he knocked his hand and felt a horrendously sharp pain engulf his being causing him to groan. Qrow snorted

"Careful, I will definitely think you're starting to like her at this rate." Qrow finished in silence until Andrew was back to where he was before he crushed his other hand.

"Thanks man." As he was now able to hold his busted hand, Qrow stood up.

"No problem, you going to get that looked at?"

"I will. It hurts like hell but I'm sure it won't be too bad."

"Hope so, can't have you injuring yourself right now. We're going to need you."

"Not sure about that personally but thanks." Qrow patted him on the back.

"Anytime sulky." He then headed for the door "I'll leave you to it for now although I think Oz will summon us soon and when he does…" He trailed off and Andrew knew what that meant.

"It'll be time… okay then, see you soon." Qrow left the flat without another word said. Andrew then got up, left his flat and went to the school clinic to get his hand looked at and just as he'd thought it wasn't broken but it did need to be bandaged up to keep his fingers straight. The nurse was shocked to hear what happened to it and after several minutes of Andrew convincing her it wasn't a big deal did she finally let him leave. Once out of the office he gave his hand a once over and waited for the pain killers to kick in, with his body being the way it was he had to be careful with what drugs he took. A normal dose for one person would be over for him. Now he had lost all focus and no longer wanted to do anything productive so made the decision to watch some more arena fights.

"Maybe one of the Vale teams are fighting." He then left for the arena while making sure he didn't knock his damaged hand. Looking at it he couldn't help but laugh to himself.

 _There's hardly anything left of me, you'd think I'd be more careful with what little I've got._

Arriving at the arena he could tell a match was about to start with all the noise coming from the stadium. He walked through and then stood in his usual spot so as to stay out of the sight of any camera's, he really didn't want to be seen now the whole world was watching. Several minutes later the combatants entered the arena, from Vale it was Weiss Schnee and Yang Xiao long. He wasn't surprised that they were chosen as Weiss was more suited to this kind of fighting and Yang, well she was Yang and probably wouldn't let anyone else fight in the following rounds.

When their opponents came out, he tilted his head at their appearance. For Atlas students they certainly didn't look the way Ironwood would have wanted them to but how they dress had nothing to do with how well they could fight. They had after all entered the doubles round too, team FNKI was one to watch out for. Andrew could see them talking out on the arena floor and could also see that Yang was getting angry over what the Faunus girl was saying to her.

"Anger, it's not the best way to fight Yang." He caught himself scratching his head when he wondered if he was the right person to criticise someone for having anger issues. Team FNKI was either trying on purpose to get her pissed off or they were just being jerks for the fun of it. Before he could think any more of it the match had begun and as he had thought, Yang's anger was throwing off her combat. Weiss was at least fighting with a calm attitude and was fighting on relatively even terms with Flint Coal. As the fight carried on though he saw something that made his heart stop.

Flint was about to attack Yang but was knocked down by Weiss and they both fell into a simulated magma vent. He ran to the railings and tried to use his eye to see where Weiss was, but it was having trouble finding her. He quickly looked up at the score board to see she had no aura level what so ever.

"What were you thinking!" he went to jump into the ring but was stopped by the barrier that protected the crowd. He paused, and his cybernetic eye was going frantic looking for her and was changing a colour he'd never seen before. It was a greyish blue and it was showing him that for the first time since this was shoved this tech into his head that he was worried and panicking… he was terrified.

He turned towards the entrance to the arena and ran for the stair well to the battle ground floor, he wasn't even paying any mind to the rest of the match. He reached the entrance to the battleground but was once again blocked by the barrier, so he was no closer to getting in. From this angle though he could still see the fight, Yang was fighting a two on one however she wasn't giving up. She dispatched Flint with ease although he was running on fumes from the magma vent so after he was down she turned towards Neon Katt. Andrew wasn't looking that way but instead at where he thought Weiss was as he still tried to see what was going on. Suddenly with one final attack from Yang the match was won by team RWBY and the barriers were deactivated.

When he saw she was okay he relaxed and felt a wave of relief wash over him, although he was concerned with why he had felt so strongly about this. He'd never reacted like this before to his students being hurt so why was he now. It was a tournament match as well so if she was in real trouble the match would have been stopped but his mind wasn't thinking straight.

 _You're going to far… you need to step back._

He felt a cold shiver run down his spine, that thought was something he needed to consider for he was becoming something else. The last thing he needed in his current emotional hurricane was the added problem of him changing and making his mental state become completely unbalanced. Without realising it he was grasping his necklace under his shirt with his left hand, it was like he was subconsciously trying to re-balance himself through this act.

He was about to walk out but was startled by two blur's run right past him, he almost didn't recognise them as they were moving so quickly but after a few seconds he saw they were the missing members of team RWBY.

Once he had composed himself he followed the girls out onto the battle floor and could finally see Weiss. She was a bit charred however she was awake and talking to her friends, so he took it as a good sigh that she was probably okay. Still, he was not going to let this go. While he matched closer the group caught sight of him.

"Professor Tinman?" Blake was the one to speak first but he wasn't focused on her at all.

"What was that Miss Schnee?" he sounded like drill instructor, there was only one emotion present, anger.

"I was… I was trying to protect Yang. I didn't have time to do anything else."

"You put yourself in serious danger! You could have suffered much worse and should consider yourself VERY lucky that this is all the damage to sustained!"

"It wasn't real lava." Ruby said in defence of her partner and was quickly silenced when Andrew's glare was drawn to her, she felt as though he was piercing her soul.

"Hay lay off teach, she helped win us the match."

"I DON'T GIVE A TOSS ABOUT THE MATCH!" this shut them all up at once so now he was certain he wouldn't be interrupted he continued. "The hit Miss Xiao Long would have taken wasn't life threatening but that stunt certainly was! There was no need to do such a thing for the sake of a tournament fight!" Weiss was looking very sorry for herself now and the rest of her team didn't say a word, especially after the death glare Andrew gave Ruby. After a few moments Weiss said

"I'm sorry. I was just looking out her Yang and had to think quickly, I didn't mean to disappointed you professor." She looked very unhappy at him and he was amazed that in her state she was still more worried about he saw her.

"It was a foolish and dangerous move…" After a brief pause he then said "…and I would have done the exact same thing." She looked straight at him in surprise. "Just don't do things like that too often, teachers might think you're trying to get out of doing homework by trying to kill yourself. It might give them a complex." Before she could answer Andrew knelt next to her and wiped some of the soot off her forehead. "You're quite a handful did you know that Miss Schnee?" she started to smile but it was stopped when Blake said

"That's one way of putting it."

"Hay!" Andrew shook his head as he chuckled.

"You all are." Then he saw the paramedics coming so stepped out of their way to let the through to give Weiss a quick look.

"I'm okay I don't need…"

"Miss Schnee, please. Just for my piece of mind let them give you the all clear." He gave her a weary half smile and she returned in kind. After they were satisfied she wasn't in any immediate trouble they then lifted her onto a stretcher and took her out of the arena.

"She'll be fine, right?" Ruby asked now she felt it was save enough to do so

"I'm sure of it." He turned to look at. "You'd better get a move on; next match will be underway soon."

"Sure, I'm going to stick with Weiss, keep her company." She then ran off to catch up with the paramedics, followed by Blake. As she did Andrew sighed. _She's cares about you Weiss, can't ask for a better partner than that._

He looked around and only after his mind had finally calm down did he then noticed something that made his blood run cold.

 _Shit! I forgot about the cameras!_

He tilted his head to shield his normal side of his face and used his cybernetic hand to then cover it up, trying to make sure that only the cybernetic parts were visible. He began to shake but only slightly at the mistake he had made,

 _All this time and I could have screwed this up!_

"Something wrong teach?" the voice was Yang, she still next to him and when she saw his face, she began to wonder what had freaked him out. It startled him so much that when he swung around to face her and nearly made her jump out of her skin. "Woah! Calm down teach, was only asking if you were all right."

"Sorry. I need to get off the arena floor, now" he moved in a fast-paced walk for the exit and Yang tried to follow in behind him. When they were off the arena Andrew glanced back to make sure that none of the cameras could see him and then gave a deep sigh of relief. Yang was now looking concerned

"Okay you're starting to freak me out now, what's up?" Andrew let his head drop

"Stage fright." Yang folded her arms and didn't look amused

"Yeah, and the real reason?" Andrew looked back up at her

"Fine. I was never any good at lying anyway. I don't want my face to be seen by those cameras."

"I got that but why?"

"Because when you've done things like I have done, you don't want people to see you on the TV and know where you're hiding."

"Got some old enemies I take it then?"

"Something like that." He looked back at the way they had come and then took a deep breath now that he had had a chance to come around. He hoped that no one saw him but he would need to check with Peter and Barty to know for sure if he had appeared.

"Well it was great to know another weird fact about you teach but I think I'd better go and catch up with my team. Need to make sure Weiss is okay. You going to come along?" Andrew wanted to and didn't at the same time, but his decision had been made for him.

"Not this time Miss Xiao Long, I have something that requires my immediate attention." Yang wave him off and walked away.

"Okay teach I'll see you later." Watching her walk away he couldn't help but feel as though this tournament was going to her head. She had always been hot headed and over confident however this was something that could become a serious issue later if it wasn't checked.

He shook his head as he had other more pressing matters to deal with at this time and marched to the commentator's box to have a word with the other professors. When he arrived, he saw that they were not in the middle of anything and were prepping for the next match to start so he let himself in. Barty was the first to see him.

"Ah, Andrew. Good to see you. What do we owe to this visit my friend." Peter spoke before Andrew could answer

"Well obviously it was to congratulate us on our outstanding performances. I dare say we might steal the show before the tournament is over." Andrew laughed

"You do seem like you've missed your calling as commentator's but that's not why I'm here." The serious tone he gave off made both Barty and Peter take notice.

"What's wrong?" Barty asked

"Did the camera's catch any images of me when I ran out onto the arena?" Barty was confused

"No, I don't believe they did. Peter had already turned them off." Andrew turned to Peter and gave him a relieved half-smile.

"Thanks, and also thanks for not saying anything while I was out there." Peter smiled through his moustache.

"No problem." Barty was still confused

"I don't understand why, I would have thought that you would have wanted to be seen. After all you did…"

"Well yes! But you see… he's…he's very camera shy and this is all about fighting! Just fighting so who would want to watch him standing around like that!"

 _Thanks Peter_

"I think we have time to tell the audience about important things so why not have some history?"

"No one wants one of your history lectures, not even your students so there's no need to subject these people to it as well." Andrew stood back as the pair argued for a time then after he'd started feeling better did he then leave them to it. He never even said goodbye as they were so into their fight he doubted that they would had heard him if he did.

After all the excitement he had this day he knew it was best to call it quits and head home, it wasn't late but he'd pushed himself to much over the last couple of weeks and thought it best to try and get an early night. The next day he tried once again to isolate himself in his office and get some paperwork done although he realised that he was nearly up to date for the first time this year.

"Crap, now what am I going to do?" he knew he needed distractions and this was one he thought would keep him going a bit longer. He sighed and leaned back in his chair, as he did he pulled out his scroll and started to look through the news and festival events. He saw that team JNPR had made it through to the final and was annoyed he'd missed the match however he was certain he knew how it went as Pyrrha could win it on her own. He was sitting there so long that before he noticed a few hours had gone by and only by the sudden call he got from Qrow did he snap out of his procrastination.

"Hay Andrew, I bet you know why I'm calling." Andrew nodded

"So, you need me to come now?"

"Yep, Oz says its time and he needs you here. Now."

"Tell him I'm on my way this second." Andrew was already getting up and heading for the door.

"Will do. See you soon." The call ended just as Andrew closed his office door. This was the first time when heading towards Ozpin's office that it felt like it was too close as he was at the tower and in the elevator before he knew what was going on. He entered the office to see Ozpin in his chair and Qrow standing halfway between the desk and the door. He looked at each in turn and then walked through the door, knowing what he was summoned for.

"Thank you for coming so quickly Andrew." Ozpin sounded off, he couldn't pin down what he was feeling but he wasn't the usual Ozpin he had come to trust.

"I work for you. It wasn't like I was going to ignore your call."

"I wouldn't have put it past you." Qrow was trying to make a joke to ease Andrew's mind but it didn't work. Andrew was so agitated and nervous he was making himself feel like he was going to be sick.

"I would like you to do something, it won't be easy for you, but I need you to do this." Andrew took a breath

"Okay, what?" Ozpin clasped his hands together and then leaned forward in his seat so he was leaning on his desk.

"I need you to bring someone here, the one I have chosen." He felt a chill run down his spine and sighed.

"Who is it?" He saw that both Qrow and Ozpin looked surprised that he wasn't resisting.

"It is Miss Pyrrha Nikos. I believe she is the perfect candidate for this and…" Andrew stopped listening and was already turning around back to the lift.

"Hay what you are doing?" Andrew stopped at Qrow's question

"Collecting Miss Nikos."

"Really? It was that easy? We thought we were going to have to convince you to go along with this."

Andrew turned back and once again looked both in the eyes in turn.

"If I refuse or not, you're still going to do this. You're still going to bring her here and make her choose so why bother making a fuss."

"Andrew please, this is hard on all of us, but we can't wait any longer. We need to act now while we still can, surely you can understand this." Andrew turned back to the elevator after Ozpin had finished and marched out but neither of them called out this time. When he got there, he pressed the button and just as the door was about to close he said

"We're all going to have to live with this. I hope everyone can." As the door closed he felt he anger and rage overtake him, and it was all he could do to keep it from bursting out. Of course he was going to do this, he was never going to let whoever Ozpin chose do this alone, it was bad enough that they would have to do this and doing it alone would be hell.

"I'll take her back." Andrew moved to the front of the group and stood next to Pyrrha, she never looked at him but began to move and knew that this was going to eat away at her.

 _How could they do this to her…No… how could WE, I didn't stop this so I'm as much to blame as them._

He walked out of the main tower with a thick level of shame covering his face, this was something that he was now doing, it wasn't a far-off thought anymore for it was happening now. He was walking on autopilot towards the festival grounds knowing that was where he would find Pyrrha, she was celebrating with team RWBY over getting through to the finals. They were the only two teams from Beacon to do it this year, so it was a well-deserved celebration, and he was about to ruin all that.

He got to the festival grounds and began his search, it wasn't going to be difficult to find them as he knew he would hear Ruby long before he saw any of them. He almost didn't want to find her but if he didn't then he would only be making Ozpin annoyed. He said he would do it and he wasn't the type of person to break promises no matter how trivial they might be. Sure enough after only several minutes of searching he came across Pyrrha, she was with Jaune and they were plating at a side show game. Jaune was the one playing, he was throwing balls at stacked bottles trying to knock them all down and since there were plenty still standing, Andrew knew he wasn't fairing to well. It didn't matter though as Pyrrha looked so happy that it made Andrew pause and wonder if he should really be doing this right now.

 _This could wait, let her enjoy herself…. She deserves this._

 _No! Stop delaying, you've been sent here for a reason so do it!_ He couldn't believe that he was arguing with himself, but it was happening.

 _She's not ready for this. I'm protecting her._

 _Protecting her or yourself?_ That last thought emptied his head, all went silent. He couldn't argue with that and finally forced himself to do what he had been sent to do. It seemed to take him an incredible amount of energy to move his leg but once he did he carried on towards the pair. He knew he couldn't tell her why he was here and his usual tactic of telling half truths or being vague wasn't going to cut it. This time he would have to do something that he loathed, lie. When he was close he heard their conversation a lot clearer.

"Argh! I swear that I'm good at this. Just give me one more try!" Jaune protested which made Pyrrha laugh

"It's all right Jaune, you don't have anything to prove to me."

"It's not that I was going to win you a stuffed animal."

"Oh…"

"What?

"Oh nothing! It looks…nice."

"You don't like them, do you?" Pyrrha put a comforting hand on his shoulder

"That's not important, what is important is that we're here together." The smile they gave each other forced Andrew put his hand over his face but still he carried on walking. When he was closer they both spotted him, and their expressions changed to scared kids who had been caught doing something they shouldn't have been.

"Professor Tinman! What…What erm… are you doing here?" Jaune's face was such a mix of emotions that Andrew couldn't help but half smile.

"Oh, am I not supposed to be here? I'm terribly sorry Mr Arc, I didn't know I wasn't allowed. I'll leave right now."

"NO! I mean… no its not that just… whenever you appear it usually means I've done something wrong." Andrew patted his head, a little harder than he thought as an "ouch" came out of Jaune's mouth.

"Relax Mr Arc, I'm just pulling your leg. Getting ready for when we're all back to normal."

"Ha ha… yeah, great." Pyrrha was watching the whole thing with a smile on her face and began to chuckle.

"Professor Tinman was just teasing you. I thought you would have known that by now."

"I can never tell with him." Pyrrha then turned to Andrew.

"I hope you are well professor, are you enjoying the festival so far?" Andrew sighed

 _I hate that I'm doing this to her, I deserve so suffer for this._

"Indeed Miss Nikos. I'm sorry that I missed your match, but I heard it was a walk over for you. Congratulations."

"Thank you, professor." Andrew then began to rub the back of his neck, his tell when he lied. "Something wrong?"

"Ah no, just fine. However, I need to borrow you for a while if you wouldn't mind coming with me." She looked puzzled, but it was Jaune who asked first

"What do you need Pyrrha for?"

"I need to take her to see Professor Ozpin."

"Why? Is it something I've done?" she asked

"No! nothing like that he just needs to erm… see you about… the…tournament… finals… and whatnot. Nothing to worry about." They were not sure about what he'd said as he was acting very out of character.

"Okay. Should I get Yang as well? She's a finalist as well."

"I'll collect her later. Professor Ozpin would like to speak to you both separately." Pyrrha sighed and looked at Jaune.

"Jaune, can you tell the others I'll be back in a bit."

"Sure, I can do that."

"Great. In that case professor I'll come right away." She was cheerful, completely oblivious to what she was walking into.

"Right, we'd better get going." After that they left Jaune and headed back towards Beacon tower. Andrew was feeling himself sweating as he got more nervous about what was going to happen so tried to take his mind off it.

"I'm sorry to take you away from your friends. Unfortunately, Professor Ozpin is a busy man and this is the only time he can spare to talk to you."

"Its okay professor. I understand. I was just worried that it was something bad." Her smile showed she was just joking.

"Ah nothing like that." He waved his hand brush off that notion but when he did Pyrrha caught sight of his damaged hand.

"Oh my goodness! What happened to your hand sir!?" Andrew then looked at his hand and snorted.

"Oh, nothing much. Just wasn't paying enough attention to my actions when doing my maintenance. Believe it or not, I've had worse things happen to me." He tapped his cybernetic forehead with his cybernetic hand to illustrate his point.

"Yes… I guess you have. Still does it hurt much?" She amazed Andrew, she was a truly nice and caring person as she worried about his stupid problems.

"It's fine, don't pay it anymore attention."

"Very well professor." she still sounded concerned, so Andrew tried to change subjects.

"I see you and Mr Arc are getting very close." She then went bright red

"Well no closer than any other team mates." He half smiled as he remembered his conversation with her about Jaune

"Sorry, when I saw you I simply thought you were on a date."

"NO nothing like that! We were just hanging out that's all!"

"Hmm." Andrew left it like that, now was not the time to tease her about this. Eventually they arrived at the tower and took the elevator to Ozpins office. Once they were there he gestured with his hand for her to enter and when she did Ozpin was already seated waiting for her.

"Ah Miss Nikos. Come, sit down. Thank you Professor Tinman." Before Andrew could say anything Qrow had already appeared next to him. No words were said between them, but Andrew knew what Qrow was doing. He was reassuring him with his easy-going face and patted him on the back. They walked into the office with Qrow taking up position leaning up against a pillar and Andrew walked over to the window and looked out over Beacon.

As Ozpin and Pyrrha talked they soon got onto the subject of Fair tales and Ozpin asked her what her favourite one was she listed off a few. When Ozpin asked her about the tale of the seasons, Andrew's heart sank as Pyrrha started to tell the story. This was the point of no return and when she finished Ozpin told her it was true it did make her stumble. Then came the question that made him clench his fists.

"Why are you telling me this?" Pyrrha asked

"We're telling you, Pyrrha Nikos, because we believe that you are next in line to receive the fall maidens power." Andrew turned to interfere but was help back by Qrow who had moved over to him when he saw his fists form. Andrew looked at Qrow and after a few seconds of staring each other down did he finally back away. It was at this time that the elevator opened again to allow Glynda and Ironwood to enter the meeting. Pyrrha began to look confused over what was happening and when she asked

"Who are you?" he felt his blood turn cold

 _We are monsters_

Once this part of the meeting had concluded, they headed to the elevator with Andrew stepping him first, so he would be at the back of the small metal box. After everyone was in they descended into the lowest level of the tower. It took a while for it to get there and all the time he could take his eyes off Pyrrha, his cybernetic eye was keeping constant reading on her vitals and he could tell she was nervous even without the eye. When they reached the bottom and the door opened, everyone got out apart from Pyrrha and Andrew. With a comforting pat on her shoulder with his left hand she turned and looked at her not knowing what to think and hoping he would have an answer for her. He didn't say a word and merely nodded in the direction the others were walking with a pathetic half-smile on his face.

When they had caught up with Glynda she asked

"I'm sure you must have questions."

"Maybe one or two." Pyrrha replied and Andrew knew it was only going to get worse. They carried on walking as the group explained the rules of the maiden's power and how it was transferred. Pyrrha was asking all the questions that he himself had asked about why she had to inherit the powers now and why it had to be her. After explaining the precarious situation the current fall maiden was in did they reach their destination, Amber who was being kept alive in a special camber made by Atlas techs. After explaining the dangers of when Amber finally dies of her powers potentially ending up with her attacker, Pyrrha stepped forward to see Amber while Andrew stayed at the back of the group.

Even though he had been well informed about all this brotherhood did and why it needed to exist that he could easily retell the tale, this wasn't why he was apart of the group. His purpose was different which is why he never really took part in the discussions and why he was more like a messenger boy, but he was content in his role. After a heated discussion about the why the maidens were kept secret and what the panic would cause to the world, they heard Pyrrha say

"I'll do it. If you believe this will help humanity, then I will become your fall maiden." Andrew took full attention of what was going on, the moment the talk of chaos and Grimm attacks were mentioned Pyrrha chose to do this. He was humbled and distraught at the same time, she was doing this for the right reason, but she still hadn't been told the whole story.

None of their faces looked happy about what they needed to tell her, and Andrew had decided on his way down in the elevator that if none of them did it he, he would. He owed Pyrrha that much. Luckily Ozpin stepped in and began explaining why this wasn't going to be so straight forward. Ironwood then started to talk about how using Atlas tech they could transfer the powers to her that way, all the while stroking his ego. When he and Qrow finally mentioned that Pyrrha would have to absorb Ambers aura, her very life, did she see the horror in what they were asking of her.

"Thats…"

"Classified"

"Wrong!" Andrew's head dropped like an impossible weight had been attached to his forehead. She understood what they were going to do, and she was the one they would have to do it to, her face was showing so many emotions that it was difficult to keep track. They then tried to justify the actions they were taking, and Andrew felt like saying this it was simply because we screwed up and were trying to sweep it all away. After telling her that she and Amber would become intertwined and that the affects would be unknown did they let her begin to process all this. Ozpin then said that she had till the end of the tournament to decide but they would need an answer by then.

Andrew finally moved through the crowd and up to Pyrrha.

"Come on, lets get you out of here. You've had enough for one day." She didn't say anything and walked through the group. Andrew Gave them all a look in turn of pure disgust and then followed her, he wasn't disgusted at them so much but at himself. He gave up his morals and his pride to trick a young girl into doing this unspeakable act and didn't say a word to stop it.

They walked back to the elevator together in complete silence, Andrew looked straight on ahead and Pyrrha never looked up once as she wrapped her arms around her chest. When they got to the door, Andrew gestured for her to enter first although it took her some time before she did, and he felt a cold shiver run down his spine. He stepped in afterwards and then activated the elevator to take them back to the ground floor. After the doors were close he finally built up the courage to speak.

"I know that was a lot to dump on you just now Miss Nikos but it…" he was cut off by a sudden outburst from Pyrrha

"This is all wrong! How can I be expected to make a decision like this!" Andrew recoiled from her as he'd never heard her like this before.

"They… we are desperate and right now and we don't have enough time to come up with another approach to this." Pyrrha shot him a look of pure loathing

"You knew about this! About what they wanted me to do and said nothing!" he wasn't surprised to see she hated him right now.

"Yes, I did, I'm part of this brotherhood too. As you just learnt I couldn't say anything even if I wanted to." She turned away from him

"I thought you were a better man but clearly I was wrong." Andrew couldn't hear this anymore and slammed the stop button on the control board so hard he wasn't sure if he'd broken the elevator which made Pyrrha jump. After a few deep, wheezing breaths he turned to her

"Do you honestly think this is what I wanted for you! That I wanted to give you this choice!" She looked back at him, but her face hadn't changed. "I'm against this, all of it! It turns my stomach that we're even doing this!"

"But you are!" she shouted back

"Making you choose between killing another person and becoming gods know what or refusing and forcing us to choose another poor girl to go through all of this. This is so disgusting that I've more than once told the others that I would walk out of this if they did it. But what help would I be in doing that."

"Then put forward something else. Couldn't you have tried anything else other than…this?"

"The fact that we are here proves that no matter what I've said it didn't take." Pyrrha covered her face for a moment then said

"What am I going to do Professor?" her face was a complete change from before, no longer hate but sorrow. He could see tears begin to well up in her eyes so before she could start to cry, be put both his arms on her shoulders.

"Listen to me Miss Nikos… Pyrrha." The fact he used her first name instead of her last made her take noticed that this was something different. "I cannot even imagine what you're going through right now, putting this choice on anyone is beyond traumatic. Never the less, whatever your choice is going to be you will never face it alone." He shook her gently to reaffirm his presence. "I will be with you every step of the way and not matter what you choose, I'll stand by it and be there. I'm not about to hide behind our mistake with excuses that its necessary, instead I'll bear the brunt of this fault with you." She took a shaken breath

"What if I'm not ready, what if I choose wrong and this all becomes so much worse!"

"Then we'll deal with it together!" they both paused for a long time until he added "Ever since you arrived at this school I knew you were the strongest person I had seen in years. You didn't need me to teach you anything, you were already prepared. However, no one can look at this decision and know instantly what to say. If you did then I would have thought less of you."

"But if I go through with it and I kill that poor girl then how will I live with that action! How can I just go on and…" she was cut off as he pulled her into a hug she wasn't expecting.

"You won't be the one killing her, we will. This happened because of us so I'll have her death on my conscience, not you, never you."

"It's still me that has to do this." She was sounding more distraught with each word.

"The fact that you feel so strongly about this makes me so proud of you." She pushed away from him in surprise "Taking a life is one of the most terrible things we do to each other and if you could do it so easily then you would never deserve this power. But you understand what price this power comes with and because of that I know you won't miss use it. You are truly noble, kind, and brave. You are everything I would wish to be and more, so this is why I'm not leaving you during this time." She then came back in and hugged him, and he couldn't help but hug back. Seeing her like this broke him, she was someone whom he admired and having her break down like this because he was too weak to say no to the others hurt him more than any real pain.

After a while the elevator coms blurted out

"Is everything all right down there? We've noticed a problem with your elevator." They parted from their hug and Andrew pressed the intercom button.

"Yeah, it's all fine, just slipped on the emergency button. Nothing's wrong." All the time he was doing this he was rubbing the back of his neck. When they started moving again he and Pyrrha looked at each other.

"Why did it have to be me? Why did it all come to this?" Pyrrha wasn't sounding any different and he knew she would need time to get her head around this.

"I can't answer either of those questions Miss Nikos." She took a shaky breath

"I wish that I could forget all this."

"You and me both." When they got to the top and the door opened, Andrew put his arm around her back and gently move her forward. "Go, find your friends and spend some time with them."

"And do what? I can't think straight right now."

"I know but just spend some time with them. Maybe they can help settle your mind better than I could." She didn't say anything and started to walk out of the tower as Andrew stood and watched her. After a while he ran after her.

"Miss Nikos." She turned around and wasn't surprised to see him and he stopped just short of her. "What ever you need to help you through this, don't hesitate to call me. I'll be there for you, I promise." Now she smiled, it was weak, but it was a smile.

"Thank you, professor." She gave him a brief bow and carried on walking the way she was going. He was left standing at the entrance to the tower in a perfectly motionless state as he tried to get his head back together. This was the single worse thing he'd ever done in his life.

 _No, you've done worse than that. You've done much worse._


	34. Out of Control

Mumbling to himself while he was doing his boot clips up, Andrew was still furious over the other day and what had happened. Because of this foul mood he had taken much longer to get ready for the day than normal, but he couldn't care less. If the world had an issue with him today, then they would regret bringing it up for he was on a knifes edge. One slight push and he would not be held responsible for what would happen next. After finishing getting ready, he gave himself a once over and looked in his mirror to make sure he hadn't missed anything although once he did he wished he hadn't. His face looked like it would be more at home on a corpse than whatever he was supposed to be, his lack of sleep was obvious, and this would only serve in making him even more irritable to anyone around him. He brushed his still bandaged left hand through the mess that was his hair, it had gotten much longer than he liked it to be and added with the start of a beard coming through made him sigh. He was usually more aware of his appearance, but he had lost all interest in looking presentable. As his hand came back down he saw the hand fall limply by his side and he let his head drop at the sight that he had seen, he was a mess in mind, body, and soul.

"I'm not going to last much longer." He said in a whisper so quiet he nearly didn't hear it himself. With that he found what little strength he could muster and left his flat, walking as though he was waist deep in a quagmire of shame and regret. Everyone he passed by seemed to move around him like a river meeting a stubborn boulder, none of them spoke to him and the silence only helped him fall deeper into to the turmoil inside his own mind. When he reached his office he walked in and for the first time was angry at the fact he had no reason to be there, all his work was done and now he was merely waiting for the tournament to end so that he could get back to teaching again. He sat down at his desk and let his head fall into his hands.

"Something has got to break." The statement was more focused at his own mental fatigue as he knew that the more emotional he got the more likely it would be that he would collapse into his pathetic state again. Before he knew what was going on he heard a knock at his door which forced him to sit up and compose himself.

"Yeah." He answered, already feeling awkward at how he responded. His voice seemed to open the door and in walked Glynda followed by Qrow.

"Hello Andrew. Can we speak to you?" Andrew looked at them both in turn and then waved them in. Glynda sat in a seat on the other side of his desk and Qrow went and leaned up against a wall to the left of him.

"Sorry we didn't call ahead but I had a feeling you'd just ignore it, so I thought it would be better just to come straight here." Qrow was taking out his drinking flask as he spoke and took the top off it. Andrew scoffed

"Well there might be a reason for me ignoring you, but I suppose you wouldn't care anyway."

"Andrew please." Andrew looked over to Glynda and sighed

"Sorry." He was trying to isolate himself for a reason and these two were making it void. Being around the people he cared about while feeling rotten would only make them feel worse for being there.

"See Glynda, told you he would be feeling angsty." Andrew glared at Qrow who took a swig of his drink but Glynda paid him no attention and looked squarely at Andrew.

"We're worried about you Andrew. After the other day in the vault we thought you might be upset and we couldn't leave you like that."

 _Upset? I'm past upset._ He pushed his mental thoughts aside and decided to try and be civil

"Well I am upset but not at any of you. At me."

"Andrew, it's not like you are to blame for this."

"Yeah, you always seemed to think everything is your fault. Sometimes you've just got to except that it's not always you." Qrow words hit a part of his mind he kept locked up.

"That may be, but I was the one who in the end yielded to this plan. I stood against it all this time but when it came time for me to do what was right, I buckled and did the wrong thing anyway."

"We all did." Glynda sounded so sad proving that she was feeling the same way. "But we can't undo what has been done, only hope that we can make amends for this in the future."

"We have to." Qrow scoffed while he took a sip of his flask.

"I don't think drinking is going to help that." Glynda snapped as she looked back at Qrow.

"Maybe not for you but its doing fine for me" He took another drink then said "Oh, that reminds me, I think I saw you on the vid when I was watching the RWBY/FNKI match the other day." Andrew shot up out of his seat

"WHAT?" Qrow raised a hand

"Easy, I said I think I saw you. Now I know it was you but don't worry, if I only thought I did then everyone else probably wouldn't have noticed."

"Still. If you saw me then that means anyone could have." Andrew's eyes started to dart around as he thought about who else could have seen him as well.

"Only if they knew you as you are now. Believe me when I say this, no one else would notice you. You weren't even on for long just a couple of seconds at most then the feed was cut." Andrew sat back down.

"Thanks Peter." He said under his breath as Glynda looked at Qrow who waved his hand in a way to tell her not to worry about it, so she said

"It's nice to know that you do care so most for your students. That you would go and run out onto the arena, ignoring your own problems proves that you care more than you let on." With a sigh he said

"I thought it was obvious before. I care about all my students, I would rather die than see them come to harm."

"You're always so quick to throw your life away?"

"Of course. My life means nothing in the end. You both know that, right?"

"No we don't" Qrow moved over to Glynda "You can't ever say your life means nothing. We wouldn't be here worried about you if it did, would we." Andrew sighed

"I know you care but it still doesn't change the fact that I consider that my life means nothing. It makes it easier for me to do such an act." He half smiled. "It's because of this simple view that I know when the time comes I won't hesitate to do what I need to do." Glynda stood up

"You think that makes it okay? That you can just throw your life away, do you even think about the people who would be devastated by your death?" Andrew could tell she was getting emotional about this so looked right at her.

"I just said that I know you care. I wouldn't want to do that to any of you."

"Then why do it?"

"Because I wouldn't be able to live knowing that my death could have spare someone else's life." With those words Glynda froze and Qrow sighed

"You might not necessarily need to die Andrew. Have you ever thought about that?"

"I have but I'm just being realistic, with the enemy we face can you say that we'll all come out of it alive?" The silence that responded proved that Andrew had a point, everyone in this secret brotherhood knew what the stakes were. After a minute of silence from the three of them Andrew finally stood up

"I'm sorry that I've upset you, but you can't change my mind about this." Glynda turned away from Andrew "Just to let you know Glynda, I won't go until I've finished my promises. I'd like to believe I have some honour." She turned back

"The fact you make light of this truly makes me believe you really don't care about anyone but yourself." Before he could say anything else she had left his office, leaving him with Qrow.

"I think she's mad at you."

"I didn't joke about what I said, I have things I need to do first so I'm not just going to leave them as they are."

"Are you talking about the promise you made to Ozpin?" Andrew snorted

"That's one of them yes, amongst others."

"You know that you're one of my closes friends but there are times when you just can't help but be an ass. Glynda cares about you too so next time think about others first before you speak." Qrow started to walk away and leave the office, unfortunately Andrew couldn't hold his tongue.

"Think about others first?" This made Qrow turn around to see Andrew's eye turn red. "I always put others before me, you above all others should understand that. My students, you and your little club and Beacon. So I'm sorry that FOR ONCE I thought about myself."

"That's not what I meant!"

"I'm only here because I put my life behind me, Ozpin's promise made sure of that!"

"Calm down! Don't get yourself worked up! All I was saying was that next time phrase it better so you don't end up upsetting your friends." Andrew took a deep breath

"It was the truth! My life is meaningless, and I'll decide when I'll throw it away."

"Stop saying that!"

"Saying what?!"

"That you're nothing!" there was a lull in their heated argument that made Andrew's eye change to white again. Through some calming breaths he started to become a little more normal. "I've known you for just about twenty years now so when I say you're not worthless then you know you're definitely not." Qrow walked over to him and placed his hand on Andrew's shoulder. "Come on man, I don't want you going anywhere. Not for a long time yet." Andrew lowered his head

"I'm not going to die now just that I know when the time comes, I'll do what has to be done." Realising that he wasn't going to change Andrew's mind on this he pulled his hand away from Andrew's shoulder and then gave him a jab in the chest

"And when that time comes, I'll be there to make sure you don't do anything stupid." Andrew was about to say something else but couldn't find the words. Now it was Qrow's turn to leave and as he did he looked back at Andrew briefly and then left, leaving Andrew all alone in his office. Andrew then began to play with his necklace under his shirt hoping that he could draw strength from it. After a short while he then sat down and quietly thought about what Glynda and Qrow had said, from the very moment he joined this brotherhood he knew what his outcome would be. This was the promise that he had made with Ozpin, well more like a deal than a promise and so far, he had held up his end and was waiting for Ozpin to keep his word.

He spent so much time thinking about all that had been said that it was soon time for him to leave for the day. He returned to his flat all the while wondering if he was really starting to become warped, the last few months had seen a visible change in his attitude and mental state. After making himself a small meal he then washed and got into bed, hoping that he might be able to sleep and calm his frantic mind.

The next morning when he looked at his clock, waiting for the alarm to go off, he felt no different. Between the periods of sleep that he did manage to get, he lay awake staring at the ceiling constantly wondering what was going to happen and if he was ready for the consequences. When the alarm did go off he lay there for a time and slowly reached to turn it off, getting up and ready for the day proved to be more difficult than he would have thought possible. Everything was so slow that he thought it had taken hours just to get dressed but when he saw that no more time than normal had passed he sighed. He glanced at his damaged hand and then proceeded to remove the bandages, just like he thought it was very bruised, but it no longer hurt all the time. He bent his stiff fingers and felt a sharp ache run through his ring and little finger and then stretched them out again.

"Ouch" he said in a low voice without any hint of emotion. After this he paid his hand no mind and carried on getting ready, this pain was just a fleeting thing and compare to his other injures he'd received really was nothing to complain about.

Leaving his flat, he decided that going to his office would be pointless, so he took this as an opportunity to wonder around the school. It was the first day of the finals of the tournament so he wasn't surprised to see so many students walking around the campus sounding rather excited. Having two Beacon teams reach the finals wasn't so impressive but the fact that they were both first year teams showed how strong they were and how much potential they had. Considering that one of them was Yang and the other was Pyrrha, Andrew was wondering who would win if they had to fight each other as it was very possible. He soon abandoned that thought because thinking about Pyrrha was difficult for him after what they had forced on her.

"I hope she's okay." He said to himself, he had told her she could speak with him but so far, she hadn't. Maybe she was talking to her team mates or her friends, of course she couldn't tell them about the brotherhood or the fall maiden, but she could be consoled by them and perhaps they could unintentionally give her some advice.

The day went by and he forced himself to do anything he could to try and cheer himself up, he thought about going to the festival grounds, but he wasn't sure he should be around people in his current state. He then thought about returning to arena and get ready to watch the finals that would be starting today and once again he shot that down, not wanting a repeat of what happened the other day. Next, he considered returning to his flat and watching the game from there, at least in solitude he wouldn't cause anyone any issues. Although as he thought about it he concluded that this wasn't such a good idea, if he went home he would more than likely start to drown his sorrows with alcohol and that was definitely not a good idea at all. With a sigh he finally made a choice,

"If I can't be around people or be on my own then there's only one place I can go." And with a weary smile he began walking towards Beacon tower.

The walk to the tower didn't take long and when he arrived he noticed that there were not as many people here as there usually was. Apart from the normal soldiers that stood guard, it almost seemed deserted, so he carried on walking through the tower and towards the elevator to take him to Ozpin's office. He hadn't messaged Ozpin, but he knew that he would be there as his office was pretty much his home. He passed by the soldiers standing watch by the elevator and entered it, automatically pushing the button that would take him up. When he arrived, he looked straight ahead to see Ozpin sitting at his desk, mug of coffee in hand and looking at his personal vid screen. After the chime that alerted him that someone had come to see him, Ozpin looked up and when he saw who it was he looked rather puzzled.

"Andrew, I'm surprised to see you. Come in." Even after the other day Andrew admired how Ozpin could still keep his cheery demeanour.

"Sorry for interrupting you professor, I was wondering if I could watch the match with you in here."

"I thought you liked watching them live?"

"I did but after last time, I think I should stay away from the arena." Ozpin took a sip from his coffee and raised an eyebrow at the same time. He knew to what Andrew was referring too and not only did he think it was a stupid reason but also an unnecessary one.

"You are far too paranoid, not everyone in this world watches the tournament. I doubt that anyone other than us would even notice you."

"I can't take that risk." Was Andrew's flat almost immediate reply. Ozpin shook his head knowing that trying to convince him otherwise was pointless which was followed by a small smile.

"Well you are more than welcome to watch the match with me, it will be nice to have some company." As Andrew entered the room Ozpin continued. "Although from what I saw in that match though, it was nice to see how far you've come." Andrew tilted his head as he walked into the room and then remembered what happened.

"I thought one of my students was seriously hurt. I think any teacher would do the same."

"Of course, however you seem to jump to that particular team's defence more than the others." Andrew snorted but couldn't come up with a witty come back so just carried on walking to Ozpins desk. When he was there he poured himself a drink from the coffee pot and walked around to see the vid screen, the match hadn't started yet, so he leaned against the window.

"After all this I'm glad that the festival won't be here next year. I can't take being in public at the best of times, this is almost unbearable."

"You still need to get out Andrew, can't have you becoming a shut in. You might actually get your work done if that happens." Andrew laughed

"Funny you should say that, I've managed to get up to date on all my paperwork." Ozpin looked at him in fake shock

"Oh, in that case you should become a shut in. Glynda would be happy to hear that." Andrew sighed

"Not so much, I spoke to her yesterday and she wasn't very happy with what I had to say."

"Ah. What did you tell her?"

"Nothing you don't already know."

"I wish you wouldn't do this to yourself. Whenever someone gets close you seem to find a way to push them away from you."

"Because I'm a monster." Ozpin shook his head

"No, you're not." Before anything was said the vid screen lit up showing the tournament arena and the final combatants lining up for the selection. Andrew and Ozpin stopped talking and looked at the screen with Andrew pushing himself away from the window to get a closer look. There were eight students and his eyes were drawn to Yang and Pyrrha, seeing them together they couldn't be any different. Yang was so excited that Andrew wasn't sure she could contain it and could very well explode whereas Pyrrha wasn't even looking up, she was still in a troubled state and he could see it.

"Why couldn't we have told her after the tournament?" he asked

"Because we need her to decide quickly, we cannot afford to wait around anymore." Ozpin turned his chair to Andrew and saw that Andrew's posture was mirroring Pyrrha's. He put his hand on Andrew's shoulder "I'm glad that you feel this way, I'm in no better shape than you over this and it gladdens me to know that you still stick to your beliefs. It's one of the reasons I wanted you here at Beacon." As Andrew half-smiled at Ozpin they were interrupted by the sound of Peter and Barty announcing the start of the finals.

The randomisation process started, and they watched with anticipation of who would be chosen and when the combatants were, Andrew felt like this would be an interesting fight. Yang Xiao Long and Mercury Black.

"I hope Miss Xiao long wins, I think team CFVY would be happy after their match against him." Andrew pointed at Mercury

"I would think so, that match seemed to have quite an impact on them. So much so that Miss Adel started have hallucinations on the battle field, it was attributed to the stress of the fight in the end although she was certain what she saw was true." Andrew sighed

"In the heat of a fight you can see things that sometimes aren't true, when you mind begins to buckle under the pressure. Especially a tournament battle with thousands watching you." He took a sip of his drink as Ozpin merely replied with "Hmm". It was at this time the match began

The fight was fast paced and brutal, just like the other match he had seen with Mercury, all the while he was thinking that he didn't seem like the type of person that Professor Lionheart would train at his school. Of course, he knew that not every student was a model huntsman, just take Cardin Winchester and his team for example, but this kid was enjoying this fight more than Andrew was comfortable with. As the fight went on the pair were matched quite well until Mercury started to push Yang back and with a devastating attack looked like he had won the match. Looking at Yang's aura level proved otherwise as she was just barely over the level to continue fighting, however Andrew knew exactly what was coming next. There was an explosion from Yang and she began to unleash a flurry of attacks on Mercury using her semblance and finally won the match.

"That girl, I wish she wouldn't rely on her semblance so much." Andrew said to the room, not necessarily expecting a reply.

"She is quite formidable, but I can understand your thought."

"She's a one trick pony, take that away and she's no different from any other person."

"That's why she's here, to learn how to become a fully capable huntress and not be stuck using the same tactics over again." Andrew half smiled and shook his head at Ozpin's confidence in Yang's ability to improve as he knew that trying to get her to do that would be a struggle. Stubbornness runs strongly in her family. He was about to take a sip of his coffee when the vid screen showed something that shook him to his core.

Watching the screen, he saw Yang attack her defeated opponent with an un-called for strike. She struck him in his leg and the boy collapsed to the floor in a heap and began to cry out in pain. What was worrying was that Yang seemed like this was justified and was acting outside her normal character, she then started to threaten the boy and was immediately surrounded by Atlas soldiers and meck's. Before long a medical team was on the scene with Mercury's partner, Emerald kneeling next to him with visible shock and worry on her face. It wasn't long before the feed was cut, and the screen went black, it should have been cut much sooner than that but for some reason it wasn't. Frozen in rage, Andrew's cybernetic eye was flashing red and white as his mental state was thrown into chaos.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" he screamed as Ozpin turned to look at him.

"Calm down! You need to step back"

"How can I be calm?! I just watch this bullshit the same as you!"

"Andrew please you need to calm yourself!" Andrew heard the words and after taking a few deep breaths started to calm down, but his eye still remained red. "Now we need to assess what is going on here."

"I can tell you that what happened there didn't happen!" Ozpin looked stunned "She maybe arrogant, hot headed and have an incredibly short fuse but I know my students. That wasn't her! She didn't do that!"

"I believe you, I genuinely do but the whole world just saw what she did, and we can say that wasn't real."

"I don't care! I'm going down there now and finding that kid and if I have to, crush the answer out of him because I'm not letting her face this outrage!" Andrew was about to leave but was stopped when Ozpin grabbed his cybernetic arm, forcing to turn back.

"That's not going to help right now, you going out and torturing a young huntsman will only make her case worst. We need to investigate what happened and then prove it, just like you I know there is something at work here."

"Damn right there is! She wouldn't attack anybody without just cause, please Ozpin let me see that kid and I'll prove he did something and that'll be all the proof we'll need!" Ozpin while still holding Andrew's arm sighed

"We can't do anything for her right now, everyone who saw that will be on edge and that isn't good. If you start making even more problems trying to uncover the truth because then the people will get even more upset and we'll have a Grimm invasion on our hands." Andrew paused, looked down at the floor and continued to take several long deep breaths.

"So, we're just going to sit here and let her take the fall for this!?"

"Unfortunately, that is what we have to do right now."

"Unacceptable! I'm her teacher, WE'RE her teachers and I refuse to just turn a blind eye to this!"

"You're not listening Andrew! We are going to help her just we must play this very carefully. Your anger is not going to do her any favours, the best you can do for her right now is calm down and when you're ready, go and find her and offer her some support."

"What do you mean? Sit there and tell her everything will be all right? The whole world just saw that and they all think she is some kind of monster now! Words won't help her now she's gain the ire of everyone in Remnant while we slowly piece together what happened!"

"This will all pass when we exonerate her of this action but until then she will need people who care about her to help her through this." Andrew let out a yell in frustration and flung his real arm out, knocking Ozpins coffee pot off his desk onto the floor with a loud crash as the coffee pour over the floor. Neither of them moved as Andrew once again tried to calm down, his eye though looked like it was getting brighter. After a few minutes of Andrew scrunching his eye closed, he finally opened it and as he did his cybernetic eye return to normal and he saw what he'd done.

"I'm sorry about your coffee pot." Ozpin smiled and let go of his arm

"It's fine Andrew, its only a coffee pot."

"I just can't let Miss Xiao Long go down for this. Its not right, not right at all." Ozpin walked over to his desk

"Of course it's not right. Don't worry though, we'll get to the bottom of this and once we do we'll catch the ones responsible for this." Andrew walked back over to the desk and slammed his cybernetic hand on it in frustration, annoyed at the powerlessness he was stuck in over this outrage. As he lifted his hand he watched it for a few moments as it twitched, out of his control, he was so fixated on it he never noticed the image flash in front of his cybernetic eye…

* * *

Somewhere in the sky above Beacon near the tournament arena was an ambulance flying away and inside it were people pretending to be students but had more sinister goals in mind. Mercury Black was still joking about is performance in the arena and Emerald Sustrai was rubbing her head because the pain from overexerting her semblance. Then there was their silent driver, Neo and finally their leader, Cinder Fall, who was looking over plans on her scroll. She was flicking through when the scroll chimed in, alerting her to the fact that her virus program had infiltrated another network. When she looked at what it was she smiled

"Ohh." Emerald looked up from while still holding her head.

"What is it?" Still smiling Cinder looked back at the pair now that Mercury had stopped patting himself on his back.

"I think we've just been given a golden opportunity. We've just gained a new access point and it's going to make things a lot more fun." Emerald and Mercury looked at each other

"Okay, I'll bite. What's happened." Mercury asked

"We've got the chance to eliminate not only Professor Ozpin but his robot guard dog as well."

"You mean that the virus has infected Professor Tinman?" Emerald asked

"Correct."

"Would he even be able to take Ozpin down?" Asked Emerald.

"I don't care if he can or not, I'm still going to take it. Well he'll give it a try for me." With a few taps on her scroll, Cinder's smile soon stretched from ear to ear. "Let's unleash the dog on its master and who knows, he might take him out for us and if we're lucky himself in the process." She let out a short laugh as the rest of the people in the ambulance smiled with her.

* * *

Andrew stared at his cybernetic hand and watched his fingers twitch, it wasn't much but they were moving slightly.

"Something wrong?" Ozpin looked concerned and Andrew glanced at him and then back at his hand.

"Erm… I think there might be. My hand is moving but I'm not doing that." Ozpin paused

"Hmm, maybe because you've been so upset and angry over tonight's match your mind is not settling. It could be your subconscious is sending unwanted signals to your hand."

"Could be that." Andrew sighed as this did seem plausible, the way he'd been acting over the last month could have caused a build-up of suppressed feelings and emotions that his cybernetics were acting off. Ozpin moved over to Andrew to take a look at his hand when suddenly Andrew's eye turned red and his hand flew out at Ozpin and grabbed his neck, squeezing tightly.

"Argh! Andrew, what are you doing?!" Andrew was in shock, he wasn't angry but his eye was indicating he was. He was more terrified that he was attacking Ozpin and was trying to kill him.

"It's not me! I swear!" he grabbed his cybernetic arm with his real hand and tried to pull it away with no luck however, when he did this his head started to feel like it was being sliced in two. It was as if his cybernetics were rebelling against him. After a moment he then made a fist and slammed it as hard as he could into his wrist, knowing the mechanisms in his parts better than anyone he remembered that if he hit the right part with enough power, he could force his hand to open.

It snapped open and he knew he had only a fraction of a second to take advantage of this so he kicked Ozpin away with his loyal leg. Ozpin stumbled back and rubbed his neck for a few seconds and coughed but as soon as he was composed he looked up at Andrew to see his friend doing something that turned him white.

Andrew was using his real hand to scratch at his cybernetic head, he was trying to get his nails under the plate and seemed to want to pull it off his head. All the time he was screaming in pain with his cybernetic hand still reaching for Ozpin.

"What are you doing?!" he called out

"STAY BACK! ARGH!" Andrew yelled through his pain and span away from Ozpin to keep him as far away as possible from Ozpin. Even his cybernetic leg was rebelling against him as it firmly rooted itself to the ground, scraping across the floor as it was being forced to turn.

"Andrew! Please stop this! Calm down and let me help you!" Ozpin moved forward but the cybernetic arm fired a fist at him, luckily, Andrew was too far away for him to reach so it passed by harmlessly. Andrew was starting to cry as the pain was becoming excruciating, not only in his head but his still bruised hand as well but still he persisted at ripping his own head open. He was now bending so far over he was nearly at the floor with his nails looking increasingly dirtier as small chunks of skin were being collected under them. Ozpin stayed back for a moment then spotted something that was now dripping from Andrew's head, blood.

"STOP! STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!" Andrew's hand fell limply from his head and he looked back at Ozpin, the blood was running over his cybernetic face plate and down his check to drip off his chin.

"I can't control myself! Ozpin get away from me now!"

"No! I'm not leaving you!" As Ozpin moved closer Andrew shot almost upright in an instant while his cybernetic leg took a large step forward making Ozpin stop. This wasn't because this moment was unexpected but more to do with Andrew's now vacant expression, it was as though his cybernetics had taken over him and then he moved. He was moving slowly, methodically just like one of Ironwoods robots with no hint of emotion in his face.

"You have to take back control Andrew! Your stronger than this, fight it!" The words seemed to do something as Andrew stopped abruptly mid step. After a few seconds Andrew's eye change white and he seemed to come back from wherever he was.

"I can't do it Ozpin! Its killing me just standing still!" Andrew thought about what was happening, his cybernetics were acting on their own and by inflicting pain they were compelling his organic parts to do as they commanded. With this window of freedom, he said "Just stop me! I don't care how just stop me!"

"I'm not going to hurt you Andrew, you're fighting this so keeping doing it!" Andrew winced as his abdomen felt as though it was imploding.

"If you won't I will!" Andrew charged towards the elevator and activated the communication panel.

"Armed response needed in Professor Ozpin's office immediately!" he hoped that the soldiers that were stationed at the bottom of the tower would reply and for once he was happy they did.

"Excuse me sir? What's going on up there?"

"KILL PROFESSOR TINMAN NOW!" he screamed just as his cybernetic hand obliterated the console. He slowly felt his mind begin to slip away again as he turned back to Ozpin. "I'm not going to be a monster so if you won't stop me then I will!" Ozpin ran towards Andrew

"No! You're not throwing your life away like this, stop it now!" It was too late; the automaton Andrew was back in control and went into attack mode making Ozpin stop in the middle of the room and prepare himself with his cane. "Looks like I'm going to smack some sense into you Andrew, hopefully it will remind you that you're human and not a monster." Andrew moved forward once again slowly, as if his cybernetics were calculating the best way to attack. After they were finished he charged forward.

Every hit was precisely placed to cause maximum damage with each strike but Ozpin deftly blocked or batted them away harmlessly. He didn't want to hurt his friend, but he could stand around and let Andrew attack him instead, as he looked into Andrew's eye he saw no sighs of his friend in them, just a cold emotionless being. Was he under so much emotional stress that his cybernetics were no long able to cope? Had they determined that he was the source of this and concluded that eliminating him would solve them? The cold logic of a computer could have thought this and Ozpin was not an expert in cybernetic's to determine otherwise. There were many parts inside Andrew that were experimental that he wasn't even fully aware of what he was capable of, this could also mean that any malfunction could be devastating.

"Please Andrew, remember who you are! You not a robot, not a monster, you're a human! You're also one of my dearest friends so remember! Fight this!" The hit that Ozpin blocked did have enough power behind it to knock him back but be maintained his composer. As the pair of them looked over at their opponent, it felt like hours had passed by in silence, but it was interrupted by the sound of the elevator reaching its destination. Two armed soldiers ran out into the room and looked at the two professors.

"Professor Ozpin, Professor Tinman what's going on?!" Andrew suddenly took notice of the new comers, sensing what his next move would be Ozpin shouted

"Get back in the elevator!" The two men never knew what hit them, Andrew moved at a speed that Ozpin wasn't even aware he could. In a flash he had spun around and charged at one of the soldiers and with his cybernetic fist, sent the man flying back into the elevator with a loud crash. The other soldier reached for his gun but didn't get fart as Andrew reached out and grabbed the man's wrist. With one almost 360˚ spin of his cybernetic hand he twisted the soldiers hand at an impossible angle causing him to cry out in agony as Andrew them kicked him away with tremendous force that the impact of the man hitting the wall shut him up instantly. The first soldier was back on his feet and had drawn his pistol, already aiming towards Andrew but was still hazy from the hit. As he fired, Andrew moved and dodged two shots and was then inside the elevator with him. With a single headbutt, he knocked the man unconscious and took the gun from his hand as he fell. Now he was armed he walked back into Ozpin's office.

Aiming the gun at Ozpin, finally Andrew managed to gain some control and come back into his own head with several deep breaths. The whole sequence of events that had played out seemed as though were being performed outside his body, like he was observing the whole thing from somewhere else. Sweat was starting to pour down his face, mixing with the blood, he could tell the pistol in his cybernetic arm would never budge and thanks to his cybernetic eye, he wouldn't miss. As he tried to stop himself by grabbing his now compromised arm, the pain inside his head was unbearable. The unintelligible noises he made in response to this pain and fear over what he was about to do made his eye start to water, he was becoming the monster he'd always feared he was capable of being.

"Andrew! Everything is going to be all right! Put the gun down and let me help you, I won't abandon you!" Andrew could hear Ozpin but not obey him as his hand began to slowly squeeze the trigger.

"NO!" Andrew screamed out and grabbed the gun. Using his barriers, he made a barrier snap over his hand which applied so much force that the gun was wrenched out of his cybernetic hand and almost broke his real hand as it was sent flying. Now that the gun was away from his cybernetic self he panicked as he wasn't sure what he could do to stop himself. His cybernetics were no longer apart of him and it was like there was a puppet master above him pulling strings to operate his robotic parts. After only a moment's hesitation he knew what to do.

 _It's got to be done._ While those words were being said in his head he tossed the gun into the air and caught it so he could use the gun properly. Ozpin was confused until he saw what Andrew was about to do.

"Don't do it!" He charged from the middle of the office and towards Andrew. As he did Andrew's cybernetic arm started to reach out to Ozpin, knowing what it was going to do Andrew felt no qualms about his next action.

"Sorry Ozpin." He raised the gun towards his left temple and with a weak half smile on his face, pulled the trigger.

He heard nothing after that, not the sound of Ozpin calling for him to stop or the sound of the gun going off. His whole world was plunged into a soundless, numb void as his body went limp, not even feeling it hit the ground.


	35. Not Your Time

Ozpin was sitting in an uncomfortable chair in a hospital room, he was leaning against his cane as he looked at the floor feeling ashamed of why he was here. Looking up he could see the sight that he had been staring at for most of the night, Andrew Tinman laying in a hospital bed with several tubes and wires attached to him. The only sound that could be heard was the countless machines that he was hook up to, each one seemly beeping in time with each other so that there was never a moments peace which was one of the reasons why Ozpin hadn't managed to sleep. Andrew also had more machines that his cybernetics were attached to as well, with everything around him it was difficult to imagine how anyone could get near him to administer additional treatment.

"Why did you do this Andrew?" Ozpin was asking the same question he's been asking himself since Andrew had shot himself in the head. All Ozpin could be thankful for was that Andrew had shot the cybernetic part of his head instead of his real head and because of this the bullet hadn't penetrated passed it. Sadly this was still bad, he hadn't killed himself out right but had put himself in the next worst scenario as the cybernetics in his head were intrinsically woven into his brain. Damaging one would cause massive damage to the other so he was in a dangerous place at the moment suck in a coma that he could potentially not wake up from.

"I shouldn't have involved him in this, all the extra stress must have contributed to this."

"You know that he wouldn't have sat back and done nothing. Especially when it involved his students." Qrow spoke from the door, leaning against the frame while drinking something from a plastic cup he was holding. Qrow had come to the hospital as soon as Ozpin told him what had happened.

"I am still to blame for this. He was only doing what I asked him, and I knew that he didn't agree with most of it."

"None of us particularly agreed with it Oz, well maybe Ironwood does but we didn't. Andrew was just the only one to stand for what was morally right."

"Right or wrong have nothing to do with his current situation. This whole series of events has pushed him too far and now he's fighting for his life. I should have seen it coming, why didn't I notice he was this broken up about it?" Qrow took a drink and moved over to Andrew

"I didn't do anything either. He's one of the few close friends I've got and all I did was tell him to stop being an ass."

"I know you are good friends but so am I and he is my responsibly Qrow. If I can't look after one of my own, then I have no right in being a part of this."

"He's a grown man, not the student who you taught all those years ago. We all wanted to help him but he's difficult to get to open up, he's never lost that stubbornness." Qrow carefully placed his hand on Andrew's arm. "And I know if he was wake right now, he wouldn't let you blame yourself for this. In fact, he would just make it something else he could pile on his conscience and blame himself." Qrow tried to laugh but it stopped short as he suppressed a small sob.

"I wish he would let his past go. If I had forced him into counselling them maybe he could have functioned more like a normal person." Now Qrow did laugh

"You think you could have forced him to do something he didn't want to do! Good luck, it would have been easier if you tried to house train a Beowolf." This made Ozpin smile for the first time since the end of the match from last night, it wasn't a big smile, but it was there.

"I guess I didn't know him as well as I thought." Qrow walked over to him while taking another gulp of his drink.

"No one knew him that well, he was just quiet about his past and… well pretty must everything actually." Ozpin knew more about Andrew's past than he let on but talking about it here would have been disrespectful and Andrew would have made him shut his mouth before he could utter a word. "Anyway, you had any sleep?" Ozpin shook his head

"No, not really."

"You want to get some sleep in the visitor room? I could watch him for you."

"No. Thankyou Qrow but I'm not going anywhere right now. Not until I know one way or the other." Qrow and Ozpin both looked at Andrew, hoping that he would suddenly wake up and start shouting about being propped up in a hospital bed. Qrow then looked at his watch.

"It's nearly 6am, he's been here about eleven hours with no change. You sure you're going to wait?" Ozpin nodded and Qrow looked at his scroll. "I'm going to call Glynda and let her know what's happened. Ah, I suppose I'd better call Ironwood too. Andrew will hate me for doing that, but he needs to know that we are down a man." Ozpin didn't respond as Qrow left the room, finishing the rest of his drink but before he left he added "I'd better call Ruby and Yang as well in a little while, I know they won't want to be kept in the dark about this." The room then returned to its symphony of beeps and Ozpin leaned back in his chair to rest his eyes.

A few hours later a nurse entered the room and looked around, finding Ozpin leaning back in the chair he had claimed. As she was about to speak, he woke up suddenly and rubbed his eyes.

"Sorry to disturb you professor Ozpin but there are some visitors who would like to see the patient." Now that Ozpin was more aware of his surroundings he replied

"Of course, might I ask who they are?" The nurse shrugged

"Sorry I don't have any names, just that there are three young women waiting to come in. They looked very concerned." Ozpin had an idea of who they were and nodded with a trying smile as the nurse smiled back and left the room again. After only a few minutes he saw the same nurse gesture into the room and heard her say,

"In here but I must warn you that it will be a shock seeing him." Then three very familiar girls entered his field of view, Ruby Rose, Blake Belladonna and Weiss Schnee. As the girls came into the room they saw Andrew all at the same time, Blake and Ruby paused and went white probably trying not to believe what was in front of them whereas Weiss covered her mouth and gasped.

"Professor Tinman." She quietly said and was the first to enter the room and walked quickly right up to him with Blake following behind her. Ruby was the last to enter the room and was slowly placing one step in front of the other, it was as though she was ashamed of something.

"What happened to him?!" Blake turned to Ozpin and was visibly shook up over Andrew's current condition. As some form of unseen benefit, Ozpin was glad that they were facing his right side for they couldn't see his damaged cybernetic head piece with the bullet hole now the most predominate part about it, they might have been even more upset if they had seen it.

"Calm down Miss Belladonna, I'll tell you." Blake took a breath, but he could see she wasn't really any calmer. Ozpin thought that telling them the whole truth would not help matters so instead told them what he could.

"Professor Tinman and I were watching the finals last night and during the events he became very unstable which… triggered… a change in his cybernetics and the resulting chaos ended with him in this state you see before you."

"Was he angry at Yang?"

"Not at her, at what happened."

"I take it Yang hitting that guy caused him to go over the edge." Blake looked back at Andrew.

"Professor Tinman didn't believe what he saw." This statement caused all three of them to look at him. "You're all very lucky, I hope you know this. Profess… Andrew doesn't trust easily but gaining it means that you'll never lose it. He saw what everyone else saw but he was adamant that what happened wasn't Miss Xiao Long's doing." The room was silent for a time until Blake said

"When we saw him a while ago, when he was sick, he looked bad then. Could it be that he's been getting worse and not telling anyone?" Ozpin shrugged

"At this point we don't know. I will admit he has been stressed of late which could have added to this, since the start of the new school year he has been working himself up. I wish we could have done something sooner."

"Was it because of us?" Ruby asked, the first time she spoke since entering the room with shame in her tone of voice. Ozpin could tell that from Blake's and Weiss' expression they were both thinking the same thing but couldn't muster the courage to ask themselves. "We have made his life more difficult this year, we didn't mean for this to happen though!" She was on the verge of tears and Ozpin sighed

"No girls, it's not your fault at all. Professor Tinman is a complicated man with complicated…issues. His current state has nothing to do with you." This didn't have the effect that Ozpin wanted, he hoped that he would reassure them but from their faces they looked even more worried. All he could think was that they now had no idea what was wrong whereas before they thought they knew the cause, even if it was them so were now at a loss.

"Is he going to be okay?" Weiss wasn't looking away from Andrew now and was standing next to his bed. Ozpin took a deep breath and decided that they needed to know the truth.

"We don't know. He's currently in an entirely unknown condition so until his vital signs go either way, we can't say." Another long silence filled the room.

"If there's anything the Schnee family can do to help him then I'll make sure it's done." Ozpin smiled, Andrew always tried to keep people at arm's length, but it never seemed to work. They came to like him anyway, well in most cases and Weiss was no exception.

"There's no need Miss Schnee, we have everyone and everything we need right here to help him. The man who created his cybernetics is also here in the city and will be here before long so there is nothing else that needs to be done." Weiss went to touch him but recoiled at the last moment and let her arm fall to her side.

"He shouldn't be like this. I know that he could be difficult and strict at times but everything he did was for our benefit, he was looking out for us as much as all of you would protest this." Weiss was now looking down, but her words were aimed at her team mates.

"We know Weiss." Blake went up to Weiss to put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure he'll be fine, he's a very strong person so I don't see him giving up here." Hearing how much faith Blake had in his ability to pull through this gave Ozpin some renewed hope that things would be all right. Sadly, they would have to find a way to prevent this from ever happening again which could mean removing Andrew from his position in the school as well as the brotherhood too. Thinking it over, taking Andrew away from his students would be hard for him, he was passionate about teaching and greatly cared for everyone who passed through this school. Even if it was the right call, it was still going to be a blow to him if he did come around from this.

"Was it his cybernetics or something else that did this too him?" Blake asked

"His cybernetics were the cause yes and as you can all figure out, having something like that which is attached to your own brain go wrong will have serious consequences."

"So why not turn them off?"

"It's not that easy Miss Belladonna, Andrew isn't like a robot or even a human now. Neither one can be "turned off" without having an impact on the other. They are both combined together into the person you see in the bed before us."

"I'm glad Yang isn't here, I think she would take this badly adding to what happened last night. I think she would feel at fault for this, like what she "supposedly" did drove him into an uncontrollable rage." Ruby sighed "At least I can tell her that it wasn't the case. I bet she'll feel glad knowing that someone believes her."

"He's not the only one Miss Rose but right now, until we have more information we can't truly say what happened in the arena." Ruby looked back at Andrew.

"I hope he gets better soon. I think Yang would really like to see him." Before Ozpin could answer he heard the nurse from before speaking from the door way.

"Sorry to interrupt but there are two more people who wish to see the patient." Ozpin nodded

"Of course." And the nurse went away to collect them.

"Does Professor Tinman have any family who need to know?" asked Blake and before Ozpin could answer this question, Weiss spoke first

"No, he hasn't." Blake looked surprised that Weiss would know this "It's just him." Weiss still didn't look away as Andrew's slow and silent breathing continued to raze and lower his chest. This was a surprise to Ozpin as well for this meant that Andrew had opened up to her in a few months about something that took years for him to learn. Before he could ask the next two visitors arrived in the form of Sun and Neptune.

"Hay guys." Sun was trying to look cheery but once he saw Andrew soon changed to worry. "Oh man, I didn't think he'd be this bad. Thought nothing short of a direct bomb blast could take him down."

"Sun, what are you doing here?" Blake asked

"Well we went to stop by your room to see how Yang was doing but she didn't want to talk. Looked really down but she told us what happen to the professor, so we wanted to come and see him."

"Sorry if we're interrupting." Added Neptune which made Weiss turn around briefly.

"Neptune?" He smiled back

"Hi Weiss." She didn't smile back and instead looked back towards Andrew as Neptune slumped slightly.

"Didn't think you guys even liked him." Ruby asked

"Ah we like him fine, he just seems to have a problem with us. We don't know why though."

"I'm sure if he knew you were here, he'd probably throw you out of the window." Sun smiled

"Yeah, he sure would." As the boys walked in Sun sighed "Is it weird that I'm feeling wrong that he's not shouting at me right now."

"Not really, I don't think he spoke to you without a raised voice." Ruby made a passing glance at Andrew. "I think he acts like that with everyone, he definitely did with us before we got to know him." As they got closer Sun moved next to Blake

"You okay?" She sighed

"No. With everything that's going on I don't know what to feel."

"Ah, yeah. I guess you've got Yang to worry about too. She'll be fine, bounce back before you know it!"

"And Professor Tinman?" Sun's face contorted into something resembling uncertainty.

"To tell you the truth I wouldn't even know where to start with him but from what I've seen I would bet on him getting up and jumping out of the window as soon as he wakes up. Can't see him just walking out of here, not enough drama for him." Blake smiled briefly, and this was when she noticed something.

"What's that?" Blake pointed at the object that was in Sun's hand. He looked down at it and then held it up

"Oh, I've been meaning to give this back to him since the dance, it might not be the best time to do it but maybe he'll know I was here and he'll try and scold me for something later." He raised his arm and opened his hand to reveal a long piece of black fabric that had been scrunched up into a ball. "I went back to get it before we came here. Hope he won't mind if it's a bit creased." When Blake looked at it she then looked Sun right in the eye.

"That's the tie you wore to the dance with me."

"Yeah, I didn't have one so when Professor Tinman saw me he wouldn't let me go in without one, so he gave me his."

"Why did he give you his tie?" Blake sounded more accusing than she meant to be, and Sun looked back a little confused.

"He said he wanted me to look nice, for you."

"What?"

"Yeah, that's what he said. He cared that you had a nice evening which included which me wearing this neck trap." Blake seemed to stop breathing for a while as she stared at the tie then she slowly looked back to Andrew laying in his hospital bed, the monitors still beeping in time with his vitals. Suddenly a few tears started to fall down her face and she quickly left the room.

"Hay wait! Was it something I said?" Sun thrust the tie into Neptune's hand, "here hold this." Sun then left after Blake as he called for her to stop.

"I'm guessing there's something about this?" Neptune said as he held up the tie. Ruby smiled

"He didn't like seeing Blake unhappy so tried to help her, even when she didn't want it." Neptune nodded and placed the tie down on the small table next to Andrew's bed.

"I see." He walked over to Weiss and said "Are you okay?" She sighed

"I can't believe I'm seeing him like this. It's like I'm looking at a shadow of the professor." Ozpin knew that team RWBY had become quite close with Andrew, even though he would dispute this fact, but he was also happy that other teams had come to see him too.

"He's going to be fine, you'll see. I've know people like him, real stubborn guys who would kick the crap out of death when it came for them." He was trying to be strong but there was an undertone of uncertainty coming from his voice. For a long while everyone simply stood looking at Andrew, Ozpin had been here all night doing the same thing they were all doing now. Hoping. It wasn't until Ruby broke the silence by saying.

"We really should get going, I'm going to go and see if Yang needs anything. You coming Weiss?" Weiss took a deep breath.

"I suppose. He wouldn't be very happy knowing I wasted my day standing here doing nothing."

"I don't think so. Come on, you can't help him anymore than he's got right now." Neptune was trying to get her to come away, but it still took her a few minutes before she yielded but not before wiping her eyes. There were no tears however everyone knew that if she stayed any longer they would most surely come.

"Professor Ozpin, will you let me know if anything happens to his condition?" she asked and Ozpin nodded

"Of course. Now, I believe your friends are right. Go and get some fresh air." After that Weiss and Neptune left the room with Ruby leaving last, turning back to Ozpin

"He is going to get better… right?" Ozpin looked at Andrew then replied

"If he's got people like you watching over him then there's a good chance." Her head fell forward and then she left the room the same way she had entered it, leaving Ozpin on his own once again.

"If only you could see how much of an impact you have on Beacon, you'd finally be able to see what kind of a person you are rather than what you think you are." Ozpin then sat in his chair once again and rested his eyes but didn't fall into a sleep. After another hour or so he heard a set footstep coming down the corridor and wasn't surprised to see the same nurse from earlier.

"I've got some more visitors Professor. He must be something special to have so many people come and see him." Ozpin laughed

"You could say that." With that the nurse was gone and he was back on his feet. When the new arrivals entered the door in the form of Team JNPR. It was at this point Ozpin that was glad Andrew had made these connections as he deserved to have some friends who care about him. Team JNPR walked through the door and none of them took their eyes of Andrew until Lie Ren looked over to Ozpin and bowed.

"We're sorry to intrude headmaster but we had heard from team RWBY that professor Tinman had been taking into hospital."

"Don't think anything of it, I'm happy you came to see him, and I think he would be too. Familiar voices might do him some good."

"Yeah but I doubt that ours would help." Jaune sounded hesitant as he looked at all the machinery around Andrew. "I didn't think it was this serious, Ruby has a way of over-exaggerating things but this time, I think she got it right." Nora shook her head

"No kidding."

"What happened?" Lie Ren asked, and Ozpin once again explained as best he could what happened. Once he was finished, the four of them looked back at Andrew.

"I guess being a teacher is more stressful than I thought." Nora said.

"Well with kids like us, I'm not surprised." Jaune seemed to be remembering something but didn't say anything and Ozpin didn't press him. Suddenly Nora walked over to Andrew and whispered in his ear.

"I promise to start trying to listen to what you say in class if you wake up." There was no change as Andrew remained comatose, so Nora stood up. "I thought it was worth a shot, but I don't think he believes me."

"Well it is you Nora, I bet he's given up on attempting to teach you anything." Jaune's words made Nora frown and then recede into a slump like she'd admitted defeat.

"I doubt that is true Mr Arc. Professor Tinman doesn't give up on his students just he has to alter his methods depending on the person." Jaune sighed

"I know that's true." It was at this point that he noticed that Pyrrha wasn't saying anything. She was standing at the back of the group almost melting away into the background as if to disappear completely.

"Until now, I never thought his cybernetics could become a problem. They seem like a double-edged sword." Lie Ren was examining all the cybernetic parts that were visible to him. "We should have been more considerate to him."

"You mean like when we destroyed the cafeteria? Or when we messed up his lesson that time? Or when that Ursa attacked us on that field trip?" Nora was asking all these questions which cause Pyrrha to speak up.

"We are such a burden on him. All he does is try to teach us, guide us, help us and what do we do in return? We make his life miserable!" Ozpin could tell she was thinking that this was a response to the other day in the vault, fortunately she didn't say anything about it.

"Pyrrha." Jaune went to move over to her and she recoiled briefly.

"It's his job to teach you. He does everything he can to help you all become hunters, that comes with its own set of challenges and obstacles." The team looked guilty thinking that they had made him suffer but Ozpin wasn't finished. "And he wouldn't have it any other way. Teaching you students is where his passion lies, he wants you all to be the best you can be. I know he's proud of the people you are growing into." As the room fell silent, Ozpin took this moment to try and get a private moment with Pyrrha. "Mr Arc, I hate to be a bother to you but could you possibly go and fetch me a cup of coffee? I haven't had a drink in some time." Jaune nodded

"Yes professor." Ozpin looked to Nora and Lie Ren

"Why don't you two go with him and get something for yourselves and Miss Nikos."

"Erm… okay. I don't know why we all need to go but sure. What do you want Pyrrha?" She seemed to be startled by Nora's voice and after a few hesitant seconds she replied

"Erm... water…please." As the other three left, Ozpin relaxed somewhat.

"Miss Nikos how are you holding up?" she winched at his voice then calmed herself

"I don't know. With everything that's happened over the last few days and now this." Ozpin was very concerned over Pyrrha's well-being and didn't want her to suffer a similar mental break down as Andrew.

"Everything will be okay Miss Nikos. What ever happens going forward, me, Glynda, Qrow and the general will be with you." She stopped and looked at Andrew while letting out a deep breath.

"He told me that I could speak to him anytime but I… I didn't… I couldn't think of what to do." Ozpin placed a reassuring hand around her shoulders.

"He cares deeply about you Miss Nikos, he would never say it as he's far too stubborn and proud to admit it, but you are one of his favourite students." She looked at him for a second

"How did he end up like this? was it because of…" she trailed off knowing she couldn't speak of it here, but Ozpin knew what she was going to say.

"I really don't know. Although I don't want you thinking you're responsible for this, Andrew would be heartbroken if you thought that."

"When I saw him in class he seemed strong and controlled, all be it he was teaching and even outside of class he was stern man, but you could sense his more caring side. But seeing him now… it's like he's been transformed. He's become a fragile and broken man in an instant, just like when I was in the elevator with him after seeing…" She trailed off and Ozpin knew what she was talking about.

"To a person like Andrew who has had a difficult life, emotions can be awkward. The simple ones are all on the surface with the more powerful ones buried deep beneath him as he tries to keep them from others."

"Has he always been like this then?" Ozpin froze

"Not always… but that is something very personal which I don't feel comfortable talking about." Pyrrha nodded and let that line of questioning drop.

"I wish I'd spoken to him sooner. I wanted to, but I didn't know what to say, I couldn't bring myself to think about it and seeing how he reacted about it I was worried he would be upset with me. That if I couldn't choose or made the wrong choice he would hate me."

"Come on now. He would never hate you, I only know of one person he hates, and you couldn't be further away from that point." As they shared a smile the room erupted into sounds of hectic beeping as Andrew's body stated to flinch and twist.

"Andrew?!" Ozpin and Pyrrha ran over to his bed, he still wasn't awake, but his body was trying to move. Sadly, it didn't look like natural movements as his cybernetics looked like they were once again acting on their own as his real body twitch in response to them.

"What's going on?!" Pyrrha asked shakenly as the machines began to beep faster and Andrew started to move and groan more violently. Ozpin pressed the nurse call button and within seconds two nurses arrived and move them out of the way to assess the patient.

"It looks like he's going into a seizure. Call for a Doctor Fairbrother and get a crash cart in here! I'm sorry but you'll have to leave now!" The second nurse had already gone to get the doctor as the first one hurried them out of the room. Ozpin obliged but Pyrrha was trying to see Andrew as she was pushed back.

"Is he going to be okay!? Please you have to save him!" Before the nurse could reply they were moved aside by the doctor and three other medical personnel wheeling a cart.

"I'm sorry but you need to go to the visitor room!" As the door was being closed, Pyrrha caught a glimpse inside and tears began to stream down her face. Andrew's whole body was convulsing and shaking as the medical team started to hold him down for the doctor to examine.

"Please no!" Pyrrha had covered her mouth.

"It's all right Miss Nikos! Go to the visitor room and wait until I come!" She didn't move, it was like she hadn't heard anything. "Miss Nikos!" the second time seem to break through, but she still didn't move. He was about to repeat himself when he saw the rest of team JNPR come running down the corridor.

"Professor Ozpin what's happening?!" Jaune called out

"Take Miss Nikos to the visitor's room now!"

"Is professor Tinman okay?" Lie Ren asked with a worried voice.

"I'll tell you later but for now do as I asked you! Please!" Jaune put his arm around Pyrrha's shoulder and moved her away while Lie Ren and Nora looked at each other with scared faces then followed them. Ozpin wasn't going anywhere though, if his friend's time was now then he wouldn't let him go surrounded by strangers.

For what felt like an eternity the commotion inside the room seemed to die down and after another ten minutes the door was opened. Ozpin was sitting in a nearby chair and immediately looked up to see the doctor walking out removing a pair of disposable gloves and then wipe his head. As Ozpin got up he saw the doctor come walking over to him, this man was thin but lean and looked young. His hair was cut very short and it looked like he had never had facial hair in his life as his face was smooth and clean.

"Professor Ozpin?" he asked

"Yes." His face must have shown more than he thought as the man took a deep breath

"Don't worry he's okay." The feeling of relief was overwhelming.

"Thank goodness." He breathed out. "How is he now?" The doctor glanced back at the other nurses removing the crash cart from the room then turned back.

"He's stable, his body was seeming reacting to impulses from the brain but from what I can tell they were confused and mixed up. This is what caused the seizure."

"Was it serious?"

"It could have been but luckily we were there to stop him from further damaging himself. Once he was calm we re-administered his medication but from the outlook there doesn't appear to be any further complications."

"What does this mean for his current condition?"

"Surprisingly it is a good sign." Ozpin tilted his head as the doctor continued "The signals from his brain may have got confused but the fact that his body is fighting shows that he is at least still in there. When he was first brought up here I wasn't sure which way he would go but now I'm quite confident that he will come back from this, all he needs is time. Time to reset his brain and once he has, I'm certain he'll wake up."

"So, he's better than he was, for the moment."

"In a way, he's still not out of the woods yet but he's getting there. Once he wakes up we'll be able to properly assess his mental functions to see if there's any lasting damage. Unfortunately, due to his cybernetic enhancements it is very difficult to scan his body without them or our equipment interfering with each other." Ozpin sighed as in his head he thought that Andrew never liked to make things easy.

"Can I go back in?" Doctor Fairbrother smiled and gave a single nod.

"Of course." And waved him by but as Ozpin walked by him added. "He's a strong one your friend. I've seen a lot of people come and go in this hospital and I can say he's got a life force that shines brighter than most healthy able people I know." With that the doctor left and carried on with his day. Once back in the room Ozpin looked over Andrew who had been moved slightly which was no surprise given that the medical team would have had to move him while he was having a seizure.

"I wish you'd stop scaring me like this. Twice in two days isn't good for my heart." He then left the room to inform team JNPR of Andrew's condition. When he arrived, the team were all seated and all at once started right at him.

"Is he…" The question Nora asked cut off as she expected the worst.

"He's alive." The collective breath they were all holding was unleashed at once.

"What happened?" Lie Ren asked.

"He went into a seizure caused by his mental state, but it is all under control now and he's stabilised."

"So, he's going to be okay?" Jaune asked

"It's not clear yet but he has a good chance of regaining consciousness."

"Well that's at least something." Nora said while leaning back in her chair and letting her arms fall to her sides.

"I'm glad that he's looking up." Lie Ren sighed a breath of relief and leaned forward on his arms. Ozpin noticed that Pyrrha hadn't moved or spoke at the news, but she wasn't showing any signs of crying now.

"What will they do now?" Nora asked

"Now it's a matter of waiting. There's nothing that can be done right now so why don't you all go and try and enjoy the rest of your day. As I remember your team is in the final so make sure that you're ready for it Miss Nikos. Professor Tinman wouldn't want you to be upset over him, especially if it's your match tomorrow evening." Once again, she didn't say anything but nodded and stood up.

"Okay then, if you insist professor Ozpin." Jaune followed Pyrrha's lead which was quickly followed by Lie Ren and Nora. Once they had all left Ozpin pulled out his scroll and sent a message to Qrow, Glynda and Ironwood to let them know what had happened and that they should come to the hospital at once.

When he was back in his room he'd already received replies from Qrow and Glynda telling him that they were on their way, so he sat back in the chair he was using and quietly contemplated. He didn't have to wait too long as within half an hour the first of the group arrived. Qrow walked through first but was quickly followed by Glynda, she didn't say anything and just took a deep breath.

"My god. What happened?" She exhaled as Qrow replied in a flat tone

"He shot himself." Glynda shot a furious look at Qrow then walked over to Andrew and checked his head, finding the bullet hole in his cybernetic head piece.

"Oh Andrew, what have you done now?" She sounded very worried about him and turned back to Qrow. "I never thought he would actually shoot himself!" Ozpin brushed his hand over his face

"He didn't do it on purpose if that's what you're thinking Glynda. He was suffering from a malfunction most likely brought on by his fragile emotional stress."

"So, he thought the best action would be to shoot himself?"

"No, he was attacking me but because I wouldn't harm him and wanted to figure out what was happening, he decided to shoot himself. He was probably thinking it was the only way to stop himself at that point." Glynda looked back at Andrew

"He always thought he was one step away from being a monster. I just hoped he was only trying make light of his condition. I never believed he would have taken that so seriously."

"Come on, he's Andrew. No matter what we did he'd still think he was a monster. The guy can't help himself but think he's to blame for everyone's misfortunes." Qrow was smiling as he said this but Glynda wasn't happy.

"Then we should have helped him more. God why didn't I do something the last time he had one of his episodes? It wasn't long ago, this could have been the cause."

"We cannot change what has happened, only make sure that it never happens again." Qrow and Glynda gave each other a quick glance and then sighed.

"He's going to have to give up teaching or his side job, isn't he?" Qrow said

"I think it would be best for him if he gave them both up. An early retirement is not what he'd want but given these circumstances I don't see any other alternative."

"You can't do that to him, he'll be devastated." Ozpin looked towards Glynda with a defeated face.

"I don't' see any other option for him." `

"He's going to hate us if we do that."

"Then you'll be in the same position as me." The three of them turned to face the new comer in the form of General Ironwood.

"Ah, I guess you came to see if it what Ozpin said about Andrew was true?" Ironwood grimaced at Qrow

"I came to see for myself what happened to Andrew, he is one of us, so I owe it to him to try and help."

"Huh. Help yourself I bet. Want to alter him to make him a little friendlier towards you while he's out."

"I'm the only person in Vale who can even remotely help him right now. Are you going to stop me just because he's got a chip on his shoulder about something that doesn't even matter?"

"Well someone's got to speak for him and it sure as hell isn't going to be you." Before the argument could get into full swing Glynda walked up to the pair of them.

"This isn't the time for this! Qrow if you're not going to help then leave otherwise just shut up!" Qrow sneered at Ironwood but did back away as he took out his flask to take a drink.

"Thank you Glynda." Ironwood said as she looked at him

"Thank me by helping Andrew. You can do it can't you?" Ironwood looked over at Andrew then walked around his bed to see the damaged section of his cybernetic head. Taking out a small tool set from his inside jacket pocket, he used a small torch to look into the bullet hole while he taped at areas around it with a screwdriver. After several minutes he put his tools away and straightened up.

"Well there's definitely no damage to his actual brain from what I can tell on the surface."

"Wow, so glad we have you here to tell us that." Qrow's sarcastic comment when by without anyone paying it any mind.

"However, until he comes around we won't know for certain what damage he has truly sustained. He could he fine or could have suffered severe brain impairment such as memory loss or motor-function damage."

"What are the chances of that?" Ozpin asked while hoping for the best and planning for the worse.

"I really don't know. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Even amongst cyborgs, Andrew's head piece is one of a kind." The pause led the others to think it would be bad. "But.." Ironwood continued "The fact that his vital signs have stabilised, and he's shown signs that his body still responds to signal outputs from the brain, I would say its lower than 40%"

"That's still quite high." Glynda said anxiously

"Unfortunately, that's all I can say." Ozpin sighed as he was now in a position of uncertainty.

"Regardless of his condition we are now down one man. This means if our enemy find out about this this it will be more likely that they will take advantage of this and act sooner than anticipated."

"Should we tell the girl that her time is up, and she needs to decide now?" Qrow asked

"It's only been a few days and from what I saw earlier today she's no closer to making a decision. We can't force her, or she might make this whole situation even more dangerous."

"But we can't just sit here and wait. This is now getting critical." Glynda's words made everyone in the room tense up.

"We will give her till the end of the tournament like we originally planned. There is no way we can cover this up, so we must at least down play Andrew's condition, at least until Miss Nikos has made a decision." Ironwood turned to Qrow

"Why did you have to tell your nieces about this. If you hadn't then we could have left it as just us knowing." Qrow walked over to Ironwood.

"Sorry Jimmy but I thought they had a right to know that someone they cared about might have died today."

"And because of that now more people know about it meaning that our enemies more than likely know about it, pushing us into a corner." As Qrow looked ready to punch Ironwood Ozpin butted in

"That's enough. What's done is done and I'm not sure that our enemy doesn't already know. Arguing about it now will only make it worse for the rest of us." As Qrow gave Ironwood one last glare he then turned and walked back to where he was previously standing. Just as he did Ironwood bent back down to Andrew's head and took out a thin pair of tweezers from his tool set and used his screwdriver to activate something.

"What are you doing?" Glynda asked, after a pause Ironwood used the tweezers to remove a small item from Andrew's cybernetic head.

"I'm taking this."

"And what exactly is that?" Qrow questioned. Ironwood opened a small container with foam padding and placed the card like object into it and carefully closed the lid.

"It is a memory card."

"A what?" Glynda sounded angry

"Don't get mad. This is a backup memory card that stores data from the head piece which can be removed in order for other people to view data and see what Andrew has seen through that eye."

"Did he know about it?" Qrow was sounding just as mad as Glynda and when he didn't get a reply he made a dark laugh. "Is it any wonder he doesn't trust you when you put things like that in his head. You really are a piece of work."

"You may have problems with my means, but you should be thankful that I did. This records a vast amount of data from this piece, even the vitals and body readings. If there is anything on here that can give us a clue as to why he went crazy, then it will be in here." He said as he held up the case.

"Did you put it in there?"

"I did. Every time his eye was updated, all the information on it would be collected and observed to see if there was anything we could do to make changes or improve his well-being."

"Or so you could spy on him." Qrow pushed off the wall and waved Ironwood off as he left the room. "I can't listen to him anymore, I'm out of here." With the room down to three, they all collectively sighed.

"I wish you had mentioned that bit of information sooner James. I'm not happy about it but it could have solved a few problems." Ironwood snorted

"And he would have killed me. No, keeping this to myself has given us the opportunity to see what really happened."

"I can't say I'm not glad about that but next time you mess with one of my friend's heads, you'll have to answer to me." Glynda was giving him a glare filled with daggers. As the room went quiet, they noticed that the machinery behind them was beeping at a different rate, so Ironwood walked over to one of the monitors and examined it.

"Hmmm."

"Something wrong?" Ozpin asked as Ironwood shook his head

"No, it's just his brain waves and rapid eye movement. According to this I think he's dreaming while he's in this comatose state."

"Isn't that a good thing? It means he's not too damaged if he's dreaming." Ironwood looked back at Glynda.

"I suppose but the problem is that until he comes out of this naturally we still can't say otherwise." With the three of them looking at him Ozpin began to wonder what he was dreaming about and hoped it wasn't one of his nightmares that he couldn't awake from.

"Ah, well there's nothing more we can do now but at least he's out of danger for the time being. Let's leave him in peace and come back tomorrow and see if there's any change." The other two nodded "Good, I think I'll try and get some sleep before tomorrow's final. I'll need to watch it so I can tell him what happens when he wakes up." Ozpin was no longer thinking Andrew might wake up, it was definitely just a matter of when so the three of them left him alone. As Ozpin was about to turn out of sight he said

"I'll see you soon, Andrew." He smiled wearily and left.


	36. Crossing Continents

Many years ago.

"Giving up?" Andrew looked up to where the voice had come from as he was currently on one knee and using his axe as a prop to hold himself up. The voice had come from his friend Qrow who was standing casually whilst holding his weapon over his shoulder with a cocky smile brazenly displayed across his face. Seeing his face only spurned Andrew to push himself up from his axe and stand tall.

"Not yet, I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve." He replied with a similar smile. He gave his aura level a quick check and saw he was not doing well whereas Qrow was hardly breaking a sweat, so he knew he had to do something drastic to win. What annoyed him more was that Qrow wasn't taking this seriously as his weapon was in sword mode so he still had to be careful of him going into scythe mode.

Back on his feet he took a deep breath as Qrow readied his weapon with a flourish and waved him over with his other hand. Andrew took this invitation and charged at him and swung his axe with as much force as he could muster and clashed into Qrow's blade creating an enormous clang, but Andrew wasn't finished yet. With his free hand he fired out a punch straight at Qrow's face which he dodged sending him into a spin releasing him from the clash of weapons and giving him a few feet of distance between them. This was what Andrew thought would happen and was already preparing for this, Qrow was now to his left and suddenly stopped short as though he'd hit a wall mid spin, Andrew's barrier had done its job at stopping Qrow from getting to far and steadying himself for a counter attack.

Andrew swung his axe again but this time in a downward force at the sword, knocking it so that as it was facing down, the force partly pressed it into the floor on impact. Seeing his chance, he raised his axe again and brought it down with similar force as before and knew he was about to disarm Qrow which would lead to his defeat. Or it would have done…

As his axe fell, he missed his target by the smallest margin for his axe, instead of hitting the handle and forcing the sword down like a hammer on a nail, it slid down the blade and embedded itself into the ground. Andrew was in such shock from what happened as he stared at his stupid mistake that he didn't see Qrow's fist baring down on his head. The hit he received slammed him so hard into the floor that the force behind was enough that when he hit the floor he sprang back up instantly. He was so dazed that when the uppercut came and hit him in the chin, he never even knew what it was as he shot up into the air and hovered for a second to then came crashing back down to the floor.

He was now laying on his back, disarmed and with no aura level to truly speak of. He then began rubbing his chin and lifted his head up enough so that his other hand to rub the back of his head.

"I should have seen that coming."

"Well, you didn't." Qrow said as he walked over to where he landed.

"I nearly had you though, just got unlucky that's all." Qrow smiled but it wasn't one that was happy in victory.

"Best three out of five?" Qrow asked as he stood over him which made Andrew laugh.

"I think getting my ass kicked by you twice in one day should be enough." Qrow chuckled and reached out a hand which Andrew gladly took and was pulled to his feet.

"Hay, you got better over the school break. Don't tell me all you did was train when you weren't here?"

"Nah. I decided that I would have some fun instead." Qrow was taken aback by this and stood looking dumbstruck. "What?"

"Nothing just I didn't think you knew how to have fun." Andrew smiled, and half attempted a fake punch but was quite tired from the two fights that were back to back, so it ended at a limp flail. These sparing matches that the pair of them did were a regular thing and as always Andrew could never beet Qrow. Every time he thought he had the upper hand something would happen which would cost him the match, but he didn't care too much, it was all practice for him and he always learned from his defeats. In a way Qrow was as much a teacher as any of the other professors at this school.

"How's Tai doing? Not seen him in a while, don't tell me he's studying." Qrow laughed

"Not so much, he's been a bit busy with other things. I'm sure we'll all meet up soon for a catch up." With it not being too long since coming back from the end of year break he hadn't had much time to speak with many of the other students from Beacon and so really wanted to meet up with them all again.

"I'm glad that he's okay. I was worried that some people wouldn't come back for the second year and I'd lose some of the friends I'd made."

"No need to worry about that Andrew, none of us will be dropping out anytime soon. Your team is doing really well too, and you've come on leaps and bounds since the start of last year. I know you're going to be a great hunter."

"Don't patronise him Qrow, he's still got a long way to go." Andrew and Qrow looked over towards the side of the arena to where the voice was coming from. It was a voice that Andrew knew quite well but not necessarily to person it belonged to, Raven Branwen. From what Andrew had seen of her he knew she was a very capable fighter and, in his opinion, stronger than Qrow but only because she was ruthless in achieving victory. If she fought some of the teachers at Beacon he was sure that she would be able to stand toe to toe with then and in some cases beat them.

"Come on Raven. He's good, really good compared to last year."

"That maybe but he's still weak." Andrew wasn't sure how to feel about Raven, she was the sister of one of his best friends but didn't seem to have any of his ideals or views. She was someone that he really didn't want to have to fight, in a practice duel or real life as she had a vicious streak in her that he couldn't stand against.

"Ignore her Andrew, she's just in a bitchy mood today."

"Shut up Qrow."

"See." Qrow sighed "Any particular reason you're here sis?"

"Just to let you know that we're heading out in the morning so make sure you're ready to go."

"Yeah, yeah." Andrew looked at Qrow in confusion.

"We're not leaving for the tournament till next week? Why are you going earlier?" Raven scoffed

"That's because we're not going to the tournament."

"What? I thought we were all going." Qrow slumped forward

"Well we're not anymore, Professor Ozpin is sending us out on another mission so…"

"That's enough Qrow. He doesn't need to know everything we do." Raven then gave a glare at Andrew. "Suffice to say we won't be attending the tournament. It doesn't matter, we would have won anyway so at least now it will be a surprise who'll win." Andrew broke under her gaze and had to turn away, that look wasn't of someone who could be the sibling of Qrow and he wondered if they were even related.

"I see. Well it won't be as fun without you guys there, but we'll give it our best to win for Beacon."

"Sure you will." Qrow gave him a pat on the shoulder as Raven looked on annoyed.

"If you're done with your little bromance, we've got a mission to prep for." Qrow then walked over to Raven.

"I know, man you can be a real buzz kill."

"See you when I see you I guess." Andrew called out to which Qrow answered

"You bet, win that tournament for us." Andrew smiled but didn't feel confident in replaying to that as the pair of them left the room and went out of sight.

"Shit, now I'm going to disappoint him. Wonder if it's too late to pull out?" Andrew continued to rub the back of his head whilst he gave his armour a once over. It wasn't damaged, but he always felt like checking when he'd gone a few rounds with Qrow, the hits he'd taken made him think that some part of his armour would need fixing. Once he had confirmed what he already knew he too left the arena and went off to the locker room to store his weapon and armour as well as change back into his uniform. After he was ready he then left to find his team, it was a free day for them as they were going to the Vytal festival tournament which was taking place in Atlas this year so were given this last week to prepare for trip and do some final training for the fights.

While he was walking through the school his mind began to wonder back over the last year at Beacon. During the end of year exams, he only came out as an average student on the theory and writing tests but excelled at the practical ones. The overall mark he received put him in a position of above average and compared to his team mates he was the lowest amongst them with Ulysses only being slightly above him due to the fact that he performed the exact opposite to him. This made Andrew wonder if he was in the right place and if he was holding his team back which led to his extra sparing matches with Qrow to try and improve his fighting skills to a level beyond what he could reach.

During the summer months, Andrew didn't have anywhere he could go so was going to stay at Beacon and continue training and studying but once his team found out he had to change his plans. None of them wanted him to spend all that time on his own so he ended up spending time with each of them.

First, he stayed with Ulysses as he was the most excited to have him meet his family and Andrew was surprised when he met them, they were such a happy family even in their situation. Ulysses father was quite ill but still welcomed Andrew into their home, he could see where Ulysses got his inquisitive mind from as even though he was smart, his father was smarter. Andrew spent a lot of time learning from him as they both didn't sleep long and would chat in the early hours of the morning. His mother was a kind person who seemed to fuss over Andrew as if he was another son, it wasn't unwelcome, but he was wondering why she treated him such. Then there was Ulysses sisters who were twins and younger than him but only by two years, all they wanted to do was ask about life at Beacon and what their big brother had gotten up to. They were such a wonderful family that Andrew started to envy Ulysses after the family he had grown up with, but he knew it was a pathetic feeling. The day he left them, he thanked them all for their kindness and hospitality and asked them if he could return for next summer break.

Next, he spent some time with Lauren to which he couldn't understand why as they weren't the best of friends, but he couldn't refuse when she once again pinned him into submission and would only let him go if he agreed to her terms. She lived with the huntsman who had saved her in a small village just outside the city of Vale, this man was a tough old hunter called David Van Finlay who just from his face alone could tell he had seen much in his life. It took a while for him and Andrew to find common ground but after a few days, then ended up by chance to be training in the same place. During this time, David asked him a several questions about his fighting style and for each question he asked Andrew asked one about long career of Grimm hunting. By the time he was about to leave he'd started to like talking with David and was now even more annoyed that he'd have to stay on Lauren's good side so that she would invite him back to see him again.

Finally, he spent some time with Chris and his father, professor Leo Lionheart in Mistral and when Andrew first saw that Leo was in fact a Faunus he was surprised and had a few questions for his friend.

"Oh he's my adoptive father, he's raised me from since I was a baby so I just see him as my real dad." The fact that Chris saw this as no problem made Andrew second guess what was actually going on as from everything he knew previously, professor Lionheart was a person of high standing. But from what he'd seen of Faunus they were not viewed very highly and definitely shouldn't have a position like the one he had outside of Menagerie. From what he learned while staying with them was that he was viewed only slightly above other Faunus by the council as it was professor Ozpin who had placed him in his potion at Haven academy.

All the time he was thinking he'd been walking through the school grounds looking for his team, it would have been easy to call them on his scroll if only he hadn't have forgotten it in his dorm room.

"I've got to remember to pick it up before I leave the room in future. You'd think after a year here I would have remembered by now." As he walked he had a feeling he knew where they would be so going towards the outside sitting area where there were tables and chairs for people to eat at or chat was his best choice. Soon he was there and caught sight of his quarry, his team were indeed sitting at one of the tables but were also with another team that he'd grown attached too over the last year and that was team ACKE. He walked over to them purposefully and called out

"So this is where you've all been hiding." The first to look up was Ulysses who began to wave frantically

"Hello Andrew! How did your sparring match with Qrow go this time? Did you win?" Andrew laughed, and Lauren sighed as she knew what it meant.

"That's a no then I take it." Andrew gave her a quick look

"Damn right. Lost twice actually." Now it was Lauren's turn to laugh

"Good to know! Maybe one day you'll just except he's better than you. He's already better looking so what's so bad about him being better at fighting." Andrew didn't give her a response as he knew she would already have something witty to say right back with, she like to get the last word and he'd learnt not bother trying to compete with her.

"Well at least you know now that when it comes to a fight between us and team STRQ in the tournament, they'll win. To be fair we already knew that but now I think you've finally figured it out." Chris was sounding like an authority on the matter of team STRQ to which Andrew shock his head

"Come on, I'll admit they're good, but I still think we have a chance. Besides I just found out they're not going to the tournament." This cause all people present to shoot glances his way.

"What did you say?!" this time the voice came from someone not of his team, it was Ethan Boartusk from ACKE, he was a massive person with muscles on top of muscles which made him look like a giant compared to his team mates. His mess of brown hair gave people the impression that he's only heard of a comb from legend which was a stark contrast to his smooth clean-shaven face. His voice sounded deep and booming which almost sounded animal like when he got into a fight, he almost became a sort of wild animal when he got going.

"I know I had to double check it too, heard it from Raven just now. Apparently, they've got yet another mission to go on from professor Ozpin." Chris sighed

"Damn, they always get to special treatment from the headmaster."

"Let them! Now the tournament is fair game for all of us! We just got a shot at winning this thing!"

"Indeed! I do have to wonder with Mr Lionheart though, team STRQ have gone on more missions than any other team here at Beacon. Their reputation has given rise to many rumours over the nature of these missions they go on." This time the one who was speaking was the team leader of ACKE, Arthur Cavall and compared to Ethan who was his partner he was a polar opposite. A much lender man but with no hint he wasn't just as strong, he kept himself tidy with his golden hair tied back in a short ponytail. Even though he was wearing his normal uniform, he gave of a regal tone and when he was wearing his battle armour he looked like a king of old.

"Ah I don't care, let them be the favourites. There'll be plenty of jobs for us to do when we graduate." Lauren leaned back in her seat and folded her arms just as Andrew sat down next to Carissa and they shared a brief smile.

"Damn right! Besides this tournament has just been blow wide open! We're going win this year! I can feel it! YEAH!" Ethan's boisterous voice rang out over the group.

"It would be nice. A team from Beacon has not won in some time, I believe it has been over twelve years since then, but all the other schools have strong teams participating as well." Ulysses was sitting next to Ethan, seeing and hearing them together made Andrew smile to contain a laugh. The smallest and largest members of these groups next to each other only served in exaggerating the other one.

"That's precisely why little guy! It's our year and without team STRQ we've got to make sure we win this now!"

"Calm down Ethan, you only make yourself sound like an arrogant jackass like that." Ethan turned towards Kavita.

"Come on Kavita! I'm just saying what we're all thinking! How can I not be hyped up for this!"

"Because it's annoying not only us but team CULA as well." Kavita turned her attention to the members of team CULA. "Sorry for him, one day he's going to calm down but we have no idea when."

"Don't worry about it, I like him." Lauren smiled at Ethan which made him wink back at her.

"Please don't encourage him." Kavita gave a warning that had no threat in it as she wiped her hand over her face. As the rest of the group continued to talk, Carissa asked Andrew

"Are you okay?" Andrew looked at her and after a sigh answered

"Yeah, nothing any different from normal." As he rubbed the back of his head. "One day I'm going to beat him." She laughed in response

"We'll see. From the looks of it though, your mental state is the thing that's getting hurt the most." As she said this she flicked his forehead to punctuate her words.

"Hay! I'm still hurting here." Carissa gave Andrew a look that said that it was his own fault.

"Then stop getting Qrow to beat you up. I know you're claiming that he's helping you train but I can see through you. You're punishing yourself for last year's exam results, I don't know why though. You did well."

"I did just good enough. Being a hunter, just above average doesn't cut it. I've got to be outstanding or I'm just going to drag people down. It's easy for all of you, got great marks."

"Then all you got to do is just train rather than getting beat up every other day. That's not going to improve you." Carissa held his hand under the table and squeezed slightly. "I don't like seeing you getting hurt for no reason than you think you deserve it." Andrew felt the sensation in his hand as it ran up his arm. All of a sudden, he couldn't put forward any other argument for his extra training and gave in with a sigh.

"Dammit. Okay I'll ease up on it but I'm still going to put more training in. Ulysses is already helping me on the theory side, so I thought Qrow could help me with the physical side." Carissa gave him a quick kiss on his cheek and smiled.

"That's fine, as long as you're still in one piece." The rest of the afternoon was spent talking about what awaited them in Atlas as well as the tournament itself, they'd all seen it on the vid screens before although being in the tournament this year would be something else.

One week later and everyone was ready to leave for Atlas as they gathered their things and left for the transport ships that would take them. Going from Vale to Mistral over the summer had prepared Andrew for long journeys so this time he didn't have any problems although it didn't make it any less uncomfortable to sit through on the transport.

When they finally arrived, they were greeted by a unique sight which none of them had seen before, a city covered in snow and to the outsider it may have appeared that the city was built out of the snow itself. When they got to the academy, they were shown around and taken to their temporary accommodation which wasn't to Ulysses liking.

"This place does not seem like a place where students would come to learn."

"Why? What's wrong?" Ulysses sighed

"It looks like a military barracks. This does not give me the right feel; how could you expect to train hunters here? You are more likely going to get soldiers."

"And? Aren't they the same thing in the end?" Ulysses shook his head.

"Honestly Andrew, I thought after talking with my father for so long you would have learnt a thing or two about soldiers." Andrew put his bag down on his bed and then sat down to test its comfort.

"Your day talked for days about so much, you can't expect me to remember everything he said." Ulysses placed his bag down and started to unpack in an ordered and systematic manner.

"My father read a lot about history and in particular about the wars that we humans have inflicted upon each other. He told me that even though soldiers fought them, they did what they were commanded to do. They protected civilians, defended their kingdoms, killed anyone not in their colours and destroyed culture."

"I suppose when you say it like that then they are a little different, but they meant well didn't they? Hunters are just the same."

"They are certainly not. A hunter does what is right no matter the situation, but a soldier will follow orders and that includes the bad ones. Think about it Andrew." So he did and for the first time he realised that there was a fundamental difference. If a hunter was told to destroy a village because it might hide a criminal, then they wouldn't do it but if a soldier was ordered to then…

"Oh." Ulysses smiled.

"That is why this place makes me feel uneasy. If they are training hunters to be like soldiers, then I fear for this kingdom and all the implication that could unfold for the rest of this world."

"Guess it's a good thing we come from Beacon then hay."

"That is correct friend." Ulysses finished his unpacking and turned around with a smile. Suddenly the door opened as Lauren and Chris entered the room with their bags.

"Wow this room looks… bare bones. They're not really selling me on the hospitality thing here."

"That doesn't matter, while we are here we're need to be respectful of our host so no complaining about the room got it." Chris didn't sound like he was joking but still Lauren gave him a lazy salute.

"Yes sir."

"Don't give me that attitude got it. We've got be behave like a team here so no back talking when we're in public." The three of them looked at each other and then back to Chris.

"Someone's touchy. Fine we'll be on our best behaviour." Chris looked at Andrew a little unconvinced, so he added "I promise." After they had all unpacked they thought it would be best to look around the grounds and visit the Vytal Festival to see what it had to offer, none of them had ever been to the festival before so it was an experience for them all.

"There's a lot to take in. Looks like it's going to be fun though." Andrew said with a smile.

"Atlas is frigging cold!" Lauren exclaimed as they took a walk around, not really paying any attention to the stalls.

"We are on top of the world where it is the farthest point from the sun so naturally…."

"I know Ulysses! Trust me I know. It just doesn't do anything to prepare you for it." Ulysses quickly shut up and they all carried on walking.

"Honestly I thought it would be colder." Chris took a look around and started to contemplate his own thought.

"Oh! That is because they do provide external heating in key areas for the populace so that they can go about their business without worrying too much about the temperature. It also helps with certain amenities so that the whole city can function normally, it is really quite fascinating!" Chris came out of his thought with a sigh.

"I see, thought it would be something cooler." He replied which made Lauren laugh and a split second later caused him to realise what he'd said. "I mean more interesting or something."

"You thought it would be interesting? Wow, you're getting boring in your old age."

"I'm only three weeks older than you! You need to start taking things seriously!" Lauren paid him no mind as she carried on with her train of thought

"Hay, it is your birthday next week is it not?" Andrew took a breath of cold air which made him shiver as he replied to Ulysses.

"Yeah… in fact it's the day of our first match." Lauren made a whining noise.

"Ah I forgot and it's not like we can just do something here, we're guests and need to prepare for the tournament! Why did you have to have a birthday at this time of year!?" Andrew snorted

"Sorry but I didn't have control over that."

"What are we going to do then?" asked Ulysses as Chris quickly answered the question

"We'll celebrate it when we get back to Beacon but right now we've got to concentrate on the tournament. Is that okay with you Andrew?" Andrew glanced over to Chris and noticed how much he was trying act like he was in control and behave like a leader, usually he would be open to suggestions but now he was giving out orders. Andrew was fine with the proposal but not with the delivery of it however, but it wasn't the time or place to start an argument.

"Sure, sounds like a plan boss" Andrew knew that his partner was truly in leader mode as he never picked up on the sarcastic tone he was using in his response. They walked a little further into the festival grounds to see what else they could find and as they did so Andrew decided that he needed a word with Chris.

"Ulysses, I think I saw a book stall down there why don't you go check it out. Might have some books on new weapon designs." Ulysses looked in the direction Andrew had pointed and lit up.

"Fascinating, I will go and check it out. Are you coming?"

"Nah, me and books don't go well but I'm sure Lauren won't mind going with you." Lauren smiled

"Sure let's go!" and before Ulysses knew what was going on Lauren had put her arm through his and pulled him away.

"You've got a feisty one there Ulysses. Rather you than me." Andrew said under his breath then turned to Chris. "Now how about we go and get something to eat."

"Guess we can, why didn't you ask Ulysses and Lauren to come along?"

"Because I need to speak to my partner for a while." The tone he gave Chris told him it wasn't up for debate and they walked off over to a nearby food stall. After ordering something to eat they sat down to talk.

"So, what's the problem?" Chris asked

"You."

"What?"

"You heard, you."

"What have I done?"

"You've been acting just a little insufferable since we got picked for the tournament and I wanted to tell you to take it easy."

"Take it easy? I've been making sure we were ready for this."

"By annoying us? Come on you've been acting like a total jackass."

"I've been making sure that none of you lot act like idiots while we're here, especially you. Can't have you making a scene here."

"Why would that matter so much? We're no different than when we were back at Beacon."

"Yeah but Beacon isn't being broadcast to the rest of the world right now." Andrew paused then remembered that not just the tournament was shown on the vids but also there was more news coverage around the event as well. "If you act like… you and the world saw it then it would look bad on Beacon and Vale so I've being keeping all of you reigned in so that you don't create a ruckus."

"Fair enough I can see that, but you are going overboard. There's no need to snap at us."

"Are you really talking to me about attitude problems?"

"Damn right and if I am then you know there's a problem." Chris sighed

"Don't you realise that if the team does anything wrong then I'm the one who'll get the brunt of it. Its kind of what happens to the leader. When it all goes well then it's a team effort but if it goes wrong then it's the leaders fault."

"Crap, you got the short straw when you got the leader position didn't you."

"You got that right. I never wanted to be the leader but here I am." Chris turned to Andrew, "Want the position?" Andrew shook his head harshly

"No thanks. Me bossing Lauren around? That's a disaster waiting to happen." This made Chris laugh

"That's a good point."

"Anyway, I didn't realise you didn't want to be the leader, to be fair you looked like you had been born into it."

"Well its true, I never wanted it. Being the leader is a lot of responsibility which I really couldn't handle but I'm stuck with it. You guys haven't helped, having some smarter than you taking your orders like Ulysses makes me feel stupid. Lauren is just plain crazy and you…"

"Are a bastard."

"Yeah…" Now Andrew was laughing

"You got us to work really well as a team though, so you were better than you thought."

"Only in practice, in a real life or death situation. I don't know if I'll cut it and that scares me." Andrew didn't like seeing Chris like this, he wasn't the leader and partner he'd come to admire although he could understand why he was feeling this way. None of the other members of the team could have even had a chance at being as effective a team leader as him and could have very easily been chosen by Ozpin after the entrance exam.

"Ah don't be like that, doesn't suit you."

"Do you know the reason why I put our team forward for the tournament?" Andrew shook his head. "Because I want to see if we could truly work well as a team in a none teaching environment, so I thought this would be a perfect way to test it. That way if they're any problems then we can iron them out, also it would prove that I could lead us as a real team leader."

"So that's the real reason you're acting so pissy." Chris wasn't amused.

"Yes." Before they could say anymore the food that they ordered was in front of them, so they began to eat. As they did Andrew spoke up

"Chris, you've got nothing to be worried about, least of all be afraid of."

"Excuse me?"

"The team, you're doing great as leader and I know when we get into the arena we'll lay all your fears to rest."

"How can you be so sure of that?"

"Because you got all of us to work together better than a team, we're like a family and in my opinion that makes us way better."

"That's not very professional."

"And when have we cared about being professional? Come on Chris, we've got this." He raised his glass of water to Chris "You ease of on this new leader you're becoming, stop fretting about the team and I swear we're going to be fine. We are your team Chris, we've got this." Chris stopped for a moment and looked at his glass, after several more seconds he grabbed it and raised it to Andrew's

"Deal." And with a clink they both smiled and ate their food. Before they finished though Chris brought up something else that got Andrew worried.

"You brought some formal wear, didn't you? We've got the welcome ball in two days and you can't go in your amour."

"Don't remind me, I got a spare suit from Professor Ozpin. Said I'd need it, but I really can't be bother with it."

"You may not but it'll be expected of you none the less."

"Crap. Anyway did you ask anyone to the ball?" Chris scoffed

"I asked Kavita whenever I saw her and every time she said no. I think I'm wearing her down though."

"Poor girl. I need to ask Carissa still just in case she's realised she can do better though." Now Chris looked concerned.

"I think she might not want to go but I'll let you speak to her about it." Chris wouldn't say anymore so Andrew let it drop as they finished their food and left to re join their team mates. The next day Andrew went to see Carissa and did what he said and asked her to the dance to which she hesitantly said yes on the condition that Andrew not abandon her while they were there. He agreed to this if it meant he could spend the evening with her but did wonder what everyone's problem was.

When the night of the ball came, Andrew prepared himself by washing and making sure he looked the part to impress Carissa while hoping he didn't look like a fool at the same time.

"I look strange like this."

"So like every other day then." Lauren's voice wasn't helping Andrew feel any better as he fumbled with his tie.

"For once can you not be yourself?"

"Hell no! Where would be the fun it that?" she chuckled as Andrew turned around to see Lauren dressed for the evening in a short blue and white dress with matching high heels and her hair like a messy wavy lob.

"Then for this evening leave me alone. I'm really nervous about this and don't want to upset Carissa by having a fight with you."

"You're cute when you're trying to be tough."

"I'm not doing this now, go and find your date and annoy him or something." Lauren laughed

"Ulysses is getting ready, would be rude to be interrupt him like that." Andrew sighed in defeat

"Then make yourself useful and help me with this noose." As he pointed at his tie, she put her hands on her hips but after a few seconds came over and started to sort out his tie. They didn't say anything as being that close to each other was unsettling without some form of argument ensuing. After she was done she took a step back.

"Not bad."

"Thanks."

"Not you, I was complimenting my tie knot." Andrew scoffed

"Why did I fall for that?" Andrew then chuckled at his own stupidity just as Lauren did the same.

"Don't worry you look passable too." As Lauren was about to leave Andrew said

"You don't look too bad yourself."

"I'm flattered but I'm spoken for. I hope you enjoy the evening, after that little problem you asked for help with over the summer I'm sure you won't disappoint Carissa this evening." Andrew turned red

"HAY! I told you never to mention that! EVER!" Lauren started to cackle

"Oh I'm going to have so much fun with this." She said as she left the room. Andrew wished he'd never have to ask her for anything else in his entire life again, the price was too high. Once he was ready he left the room they were using and headed for the ball room.

Walking into the ball room revealed a spectacular sight, it was a large white room with enormous window's showing the starry night sky. The tables and decorations were all very elaborate and Andrew knew that it was overkill on the academy's behalf, all they were doing was showing off the wealth and splendour of Atlas. He walked in and was greeted by an older man who stood so still Andrew wasn't even sure if he was alive or some kind of mannequin until he spoke

"Welcome to the pre-tournament ball sir. Please help yourself to the Buffet and enjoy the dance."

"Sure, thanks erm… what was your name?" The man paused for longer than Andrew felt comfortable with.

"Jives, sir. Now if you please." He gestured with his hand towards the main room and Andrew walked passed.

"Thanks Jives." Andrew said once again and carried on. As he walked through the room mostly filled with Atlas students and teachers, he felt incredibly out of place. It was something that the rich and powerful would have been most at home with but someone like him, he knew if they were aware of where he'd been born and raised that they would have treated him poorly. He moved through the crowd trying to find anyone he knew, just one person so he didn't feel like such an outsider amongst these people.

"Why did I agree to this?" he whispered under his breath and moved on while trying to go unnoticed by anyone he didn't know. Eventually he made his way to the buffet table and it was unbelievable how much food was on display since there weren't that many people actually here. He grabbed a plate and picked out some food he thought he might like which didn't seem to be very much, there were so many different types of food he wasn't sure what half of it even was.

"Hello there." Someone called out from behind him and the sudden startle almost made him drop his plate as he felt he needed to go into an attack stance. _God I'm so jumpy._

"Hi."

"Did you say "hi", I think the proper way to greet someone is with hello." The man standing in view of him was a young man who was immaculately well-groomed and dressed. He also had two other man standing beside him who looked smart but not to this guy's level.

"Sorry. Hello." Andrew said back, already looking for an escape.

"That's better. I can tell you're from one of the other academies. Which one? You must be from Shade; your demeanour and appearance say you much be." Andrew really wasn't sure how he should react to this and really wanted to speak to him in his own way, but he needed to keep up Vale's appearance.

"No, I'm from Beacon. I'm guessing you're Atlas students."

"Oh you're from Beacon are you. Just from the way you acted you seemed more like a Shade kind of student. I'd much prefer that you're from Beacon though, the ones from Vacuole are little more than common animals. Now where are my manners, I'm Constantine Domius and yes we're from Atlas academy." He extended his hand and Andrew knew he needed to shake it so as not to look bad.

"Andrew Tinman" he said as he clasped his hand and found it oddly limp, he thought that his grip would crush Constantine's hand completely so retracted it as quickly as he could.

"I take it you are here to participate in the tournament?"

"That's right are you fighting too?"

"Well of course! We are one of the most prestigious teams of the Atlas academy. I am the leader of team COIN and here are two of my other team members, Ingyō Tennō and Napoleon Empereor." Andrew looked at the other two standing behind Constantine thinking that if these were what passed for hunting teams in Atlas then he pitied them. Ingyō was taller and had a thin face with narrow eyes while his chin was trying to support a small and patchy beard that was combed with oil. Napoleon on the other hand was the shortest of the three and was rather thin and had a face that seemed to be constantly looking down at everyone around him.

"Good to meet you too." Andrew said while holding out his hand. Ingyō looked down at the outstretched hand and hesitantly shook it with about as much energy as a dead fish. But when Andrew turned to Napoleon he was welcomed by a derisive snort.

"The commoners do not shake the hands of royalty." Andrew had to stop himself from bursting out into laughter. _Who are these clowns?_

"Oh come now Napoleon, he's only trying to be civil." _Trying?_ "You must excuse him, he's actually related to the king of Mistral if you go down his family line." The way how Constantine spoke seemed to suggest that Andrew should be grateful or honoured that he'd even met the guy.

"Wow, that's… something." Not hiding his annoyance at these idiots Andrew turned to get some more food as a way to disengage from them but it didn't work.

"Anyway, we've just been walking around this evening trying to find out what other teams have arrived from other kingdoms and also to apologise in advance." Andrew glanced back up at Constantine.

"Apologise?"

"Yes. After all it is quite clear that we are going to be victorious in the tournament, so we are simply saying sorry to everyone who had to travel here for nothing." _Are these guys real?!_

"Well how about you save your apology for now and wait. Anything can happen in this tournament."

"I highly doubt that; our team is comprised of some of the most powerful people in the world. Each one of us comes from a prestigious background and it clearly shows."

"And you've never seen any other team fight from the other kingdoms. You should do some investigating into them before assume victory."

"I don't think that's really necessary, but I can see you'll cling to your delusions." Constantine then started laughing "It's very entertaining in meeting commoners, they always think they know how the world works." Andrew didn't answer knowing that continuing to talk to them would not get him anywhere, so he grabbed his plate and went to leave.

"Nice speaking with you." He tipped his head and went to leave.

"Indeed, it must have been. Enjoy your evening while you've got access to our level of living." Before Andrew could scoff he heard one of Constantine's team mates say something that caught his attention.

"Oh my gosh! Did they really have to let that in here!?" It was Napoleon who sounded disgusted which drew the rest of his teams and Andrew's attention. When he saw what they were talking about he once again had to control himself as it was Carissa they had seen. She had just entered the room wearing a pure long white dress, her hair giving off a shine in the light of the room and a smile that Andrew knew was polite whilst hiding fear as her tail twitched but even with that he was awestruck by her.

"I suppose the teachers haven't got much of a choice, but I know what you mean Napoleon." Sighed Constantine

"Couldn't they have told it to wait outside with the other animals?"

"Apparently not. Oh well, just ignore it and hopefully it will go away before it spreads its filth."

"Unbelievable. What is this world coming to?" the three members of team COIN started to collect some food when Constantine asked Andrew.

"I'd avoid that if I were you. Faunus are horrid and untrustworthy creatures, you'll be sorry if you get stuck with one." The furry building up inside Andrew's head was only being contained because of what Chris had told him about being representatives from Vale and Beacon. The silence he created gave Constantine the wrong impression. "I know, ugly things aren't they. Must be the first time you've seen one and trust me they don't get any better. Pity though, if she was human she'd be quite the pretty little thing but that tail…" he stopped to shudder, and Andrew's fists clenched hard, so hard he felt his plate he was holding snap in his hand. He had to get away before he did something that wouldn't be acceptable but would feel great.

"Excuse me" This time he gave no small bow and turned away but not before teaching them a lesson. He quickly created a barrier around Constantine's foot and as he went to move, it didn't causing him to stubble forward and then back as he tried to steady himself. This resulted with him knocking Ingyō behind him and then Napoleon at the back and before they knew it all three of them were on the floor covered in the food they had piled onto their plates. Andrew moved away quickly with a mischievous smile as he could hear the three of them shout at each other and blame anyone but themselves for the incident.

When he was clear he found Carissa and couldn't take his eyes of her as she moved to the side of the room, trying to hide herself away. She was frightened and after what Andrew had just heard he couldn't blame her, of course he knew about anti Faunus groups and racists in the world and seeing that they had them here as well only made him even angrier. _This is why Chris said it wasn't a good idea._

When he was near Carissa he saw that she was so lost in her own world she hadn't noticed him so wanted to surprise her and try and cheer her up at the same time.

"Excuse me Miss, is this seat taken?" Andrew asked her as he pointed at the seat next to her, she looked up in shock but calmed herself instantly when she saw who it was.

"Erm… no, would you like to sit?" as she realised who it was

"I certainly would." Andrew sat down and continued talking. "I saw you across the room and simply had to meet you, someone as beautiful as you I'd be a fool not to come over and introduce myself."

"What are you doing?" she said with an amused smile

"What? I thought it would be fun pretending it was our first-time meeting."

"You're an idiot." And after a paused she added "but a charming idiot." Before they could continue speaking they were interrupted.

"Hay there pretty lady. Care for a dance?" Another man had interrupted their conversation and caused them both to look up.

"Pardon?" Carissa sat perfectly still as Andrew looked over the newcomer.

"Just wanted to know if you would like to dance. Can't let a pretty thing like you sit on the side lines."

"Erm, no I'm fine. Thanks."

"Come on don't turn me down so quickly, let's just go and…" he stopped abruptly when he saw something. "Oh… you know what never mind, didn't realise you were one of them." And he quickly turned around forcing Andrew to stand up.

"What's that supposed to mean?" The man turned to look at him.

"If you don't know then take a good look friend and you'll see. You can thank me later when you notice." He patted Andrew on the shoulder and using his eyes looked over to Carissa's tail. An evil smile came over Andrew's face.

"I did "friend" and I don't see any problem so why don't you get lost before I throw you out of the window." The man looked confused for a moment and Andrew grabbed his hand a lot harder than he should have done and removed it from his shoulder. The man made a cry of pain, not expecting such a tight grip and backed away when his hand was free.

"Are you one as well, crap. They're everywhere now." The man then walked away holding his hand in his other as Andrew took several deep breaths to contain his anger and once he had calmed himself while he sat back down.

"Damn, if I'd known Atlas was like this then I would have stayed at Beacon." Carissa was sitting looking at her hands that were clasped together in her lap.

"Its just the way things are up here."

"Honestly I wish I was a Faunus." Carissa looked at Andrew.

"No, you don't."

"No, I really do. I've had enough with humans, haven't met many that I like. Just wish they were more accepting of others that way we wouldn't have guys like these."

"Unfortunately, it's not that easy, especially up here in Atlas. Most Faunus work in the dust mines as little more than slaves so it's not surprising for people to turn out like this."

"Doesn't make it right."

"Of course it doesn't but they don't see it that way." Andrew looked over to Carissa as she looked down at the floor and slowly reached out and hold her hand.

"I didn't so maybe one day the rest will see things right too." Carissa let out a small laugh

"I think you're more the exception than the rule Andrew. I wouldn't hold out much hope." Seeing her like this made Andrew's heart break and understand her reasoning for feeling that way. As he looked around the room he saw lots of people start dancing in the centre of the ball room, they all had partners but not one of them was a Faunus. Looking around the room he only just now saw that Carissa was one of only a handful of Faunus, they had every right to be here with the rest of the hunters but had been made to feel like trash by the humans. His eyes soon fell upon Carissa again

"You deserve to be up there dancing too."

"Oh well, I'm with you and that's all that matters to me." She didn't look at him and Andrew knew she was upset, just because she knew how Faunus were treated here didn't mean it hurt any less seeing or experiencing it. Suddenly Andrew stood up and grabbed her to pull her to her feet.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to dance, and so are you."

"What?" before she could argue Andrew guided her to the dance floor and within seconds they were there as Andrew pulled her close and wrapped an arm around her. "What are you doing?!"

"I'm dancing, why?"

"You know why!" Andrew ignored her and started to lead in the dance while she reluctantly followed. "Oh god what are you doing?!"

"I told you dancing. I'm dancing with the most stunning woman in the room and I couldn't be happier, so I wanted to show it." She was startled for a moment causing them to fall out of step in the dance. After this small hiccup they carried on "Carissa, you shouldn't feel as though you need to hide and from these jerks, they don't know you and I'm sure if they got past their ignorance they would wish they could be me so stand out and feel proud. But I promise you that you won't have to stand alone because I'm never going to leave you and I'm never going to let any of them hurt you." She started turning red

"Since when did you know how to dance?"

"Since the summer. Someone helped me, and I never want to be that close to them ever again." That hint alone helped Carissa figure out who it was.

"And I thought you didn't like her. Should I be worried?" Andrew burst out laughing

"Never, compared to you well… there's nothing to compare." She was still worried as she looked around as her tail wasn't moving normally but instead hanging limply down her leg. Andrew started thinking he'd done the wrong thing and was about to stop when she saw a large amount of people start leaving the dance floor. Before long there were more people off the floor than on and just as he was about take Carissa away he heard Lauren shout.

"What's wrong with you people? Isn't this supposed to be a dance!?" she grabbed Ulysses by his arm and pulled him onto the dance floor and into a close hold. Ulysses face was flustered as Andrew could see he had no idea what was going on. Seconds later he heard Ethan shout

"Yeah! Let's dance!" he came onto the dance floor with his date and the three pairs began to dance. Andrew smiled at Carissa

"Phew, this is more like it." As he saw Chris finally get through the crowd followed by Kavita, they both looked puzzled until they recognised the ones on the dance floor. As they did, in unison they sighed and looked at each other for Chris to hold out his hand to her. It took a long time but she finally yielded and took his hand as he led her to the dance floor and positioned himself near to Andrew.

"Why do you always have to make a scene when it comes to dance floors?"

"I'm not doing it on purpose." Chris shook his head

"So much for not drawing attention but…" he looked at Kavita who appeared to be somewhat enjoying herself. "I can't argue with the results." He then pulled away as the four couples took to the dance floor. For the whole number they danced and sure enough increasingly more people joined them including the other Faunus that were present. Suddenly Andrew felt something brush his leg, it was Carissa's tail and now he knew she was feeling more comfortable. While they carried on he also caught sight of the members of team COIN leaving the room with their clothes covered in stains, he couldn't hear what they were shouting about but he didn't care. He was happy that Carissa was happy and that was all that mattered to him.

"Can we go outside please?" she asked, and Andrew stopped

"Sure." They immediately left the dance floor and went to the exit heading away from the ball room until Carissa stopped at a private spot. It was cold, but he didn't feel it, he was nervous which was making him overheat because he had no idea what was going on.

"I can't believe you did that."

"What dance? You said last year you liked dancing, so I figured…"

"Not that." Andrew stopped abruptly for a few seconds

"You looked sad, so I thought if we danced it would cheer you up."

"But dancing in front of all those people… what would they have thought about me, about you, didn't that bother you?

"Why should it? The only person that I cared about at that moment on that dance floor was you. None of those other people mattered one bit to me."

"It's that easy? To think of it like that?" Andrew took a step forward and held her hands in his.

"I've never cared about how people saw me, but I know it's different for you so now I'm going to pretend to understand how you feel. However, what they think about you they'll think about me, we're together in this now."

"I'm sorry but you can't understand how I feel in there, they don't view you as a freak." She looked away and Andrew gently placed his hand on her cheek to bring her back up.

"A freak? Never. You are the most amazing, wonderful woman I know and I hate the fact that you have to hide away just for being that. When you hide you make those evil bastards think they're justified which is just wrong." He looked her straight in her eyes "I don't want to overstep here but I just want you to be happy because I couldn't be more when I'm with you which is why I did that. As I said when I was on the dance floor, I'll always be with you and I'll never let them beat you down."

"I know you mean well but it's not that easy."

"Didn't say it would be but I'm not going to give up because it's hard."

"You're insufferable you know that?" she smiled to show she wasn't being serious.

"Ha! I get that a lot."

"And you're willing to be seen as something different than human by all of those people."

"That's right, you mean that much to me." As she sighed and looked down Andrew shot out. "Because I love you." _Oh shit why did you blurt that out?!_ His brain began thinking of a way to get out of this while not making the situation that much more awkward just as his heart started beating a mile a minute. They had never said thoughts words to each other and for Andrew it was because he didn't feel like he deserved to or it let her have an escape when she found someone else.

With everything going on inside his body, his vision didn't acknowledge what was going on but when her hands held his face, it was the feel of her lips on his that brought him back to reality. When she pulled away she said

"I love you too." These words calmed his heart, made his brain shut up and focus on what was happening right before his eyes. He pulled her close and kissed again and as he did he once again felt Carissa's tail brush his arms that were around her back. Suddenly she stopped and so did her tail

"Oh this stupid thing! Why does it spoil everything!" Andrew laughed

"Spoil what? Did I ever tell you that your tail is amazing."

"Don't cover for it." She smiled back, and they shared another kiss just as the snow began to fall around them.


	37. Battle Cry

Waking up the following morning, much earlier than he originally wanted to, Andrew stretched in his uncomfortable bed whilst giving out a long yawn. Compared to the bed he had a Beacon this one almost felt like sleeping on bricks, so he was glad that he didn't have to stay here long, just the few weeks that the tournament was on. He then proceeded to sit up in his bed as he wiped his eyes to come around, after a few seconds for his eyes to focus in the dim light he suddenly noticed that he was being watched

"Morning." The sly tone in the voice told Andrew who it was without even needing to look at them.

"Good morning Lauren."

"You came back late last night." She replied with a smile barely hiding how she was feeling right now.

"Yeah sorry about that, lost track of time."

"Was that the only thing you lost?" her voice not changing one bit.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh don't act like you have no idea."

"I really don't. Whatever happens in your head is a mystery to all humanity." She sighed and chuckled at the same time.

"Flattery won't work with me but I bet Carissa finds it nice, she must if she likes you that much."

"We are dating so I would think she does, anyway what are you getting at?"

"Come on, you never learned about the birds and the bees? How about something more appropriate to you, the humans and the Faunus?" With a snort Andrew answered

"Of course, I did. I may have grown up in a crappy place but it did have a crappy school."

"Then did you lose something else with your sense of time last night?" Her smile grew but it wasn't in any way kind and Andrew simply looked back in annoyance, so she said. "Did you lose your V-card? You might have lost it in a tight spot."

"What the hell are you talking about this time?" now she was getting annoyed just as Andrew was getting angry.

"I can't tell if you're trying to piss me off or simply being stupid. How about I say it simply then."

"Please do. I might understand you." He waited for her to tell him what she meant so she spoke back deliberately slowly.

"Did. You. Have. Sex. Last. Night?" Andrew's eyes went wide after a moment and then he felt his face start to get warm as he was sure that it was turning the brightest red imaginable.

"WHAT?!" This made Lauren laugh

"That's a yes then."

"No! It's not! We didn't do anything like that… we talked… it was about… stuff that you, ESPECIALLY YOU, didn't need to know."

"Oh dirty talk, I understand."

"It wasn't dirty! It was personal, to us."

"Oooo! It was kinky stuff. I get it." She gave Andrew a wink and he scoffed

"Just shut up will you." He got up and started to collect a few things around his temporally home and once he was done he said. "I'm going to get a shower while its early and there are fewer people around." He then heard another giggle from Lauren

"So you didn't wash when you came back in last night? You like her smell on you that much? You like to stay dirty?"

"You're wrong in the head, you know that right?" she didn't answer although she didn't need to so Andrew went to leave the room but as he opened the door he stopped for a few moments before saying. "Lauren."

"Hmm, going to confess?" Andrew shook his head

"I wanted to say… thanks for what you did last night… on the dance floor. I'm glad that no matter what, you've always got my back." She didn't answer and when Andrew turned to look around he was met with a sight he'd even seen before, Lauren speechless. "You're still a real pain in the ass though." Before she could come up with something to say Andrew left the room and for once got the last word in.

As he walked to the communal showers for the building they were staying in, Andrew couldn't help but start thinking about what Lauren had said to him. It wasn't something he'd even considered until she had to go and open her annoying mouth forcing his mind to think about nothing else. This was certainly not what he wanted to be thinking about walking through an unfamiliar corridor surrounded by strangers from all four corners of the world.

"I'm going to need a cold shower." He said to himself as a way to force his brain to calm down and start thinking rationally again but even as he showered at a much cooler temperature than he was comfortable with, his mind didn't stop.

"Was she expecting it last night? Does she even want to? Are we compatible? Oh, bloody hell Lauren! Everything was perfect until you said that." Once he was done and dressed he left for his team's room hoping that Lauren was still speechless from earlier and when he opened the door he got something just as acceptable as she was nowhere to be seen. Chris and Ulysses were now awake, well Chris could only just be classed as awake from the mess of covers that he was wrapped in and Ulysses was sitting at a desk with the kettle starting to steam away.

"Good morning Andrew. How are you?" Andrew threw his things at his bed and answered

"Hi Ulysses, yeah I think I'm alright. You?"

"I am good thank you. I enjoyed last night very much and from I saw of you before you left with Miss Remus, you seemed to be quite happy yourself."

"Sure was. Hay thanks for giving me a hand last night, I was worried my little stunt would back fired badly."

"Think nothing of it. Besides, it was Lauren who pulled me onto the dance floor and as you know when Lauren wants to do something you cannot stop her."

"That's an understatement." As he looked at the desk he saw that Ulysses had prepared three cups, two of which had coffee in and one with a tea bag. "You making Lauren a drink? Will she be back soon?" he asked

"No this one is for you."

"Really?" Ulysses looked confused

"Did you not want one?"

"No, I did but how did you know?"

"I was just making a drink for me and Chris, so I thought I would have one ready for your return." Andrew smiled

"Thanks Ulysses."

"None needed." Ulysses' goofy grin made Andrew laugh

"Still deserved." And with a pat on his back Andrew went to sit on his bed which seemed to rile Chris from his semi-conscious state. With a yawn Chris looked over and said

"Morning. You sleep well?"

"Alright, not really used to this place yet so I only got some sleep. I'm guessing that you didn't have a problem?"

"Nah. Was asleep as soon as I hit the pillow." Chris stretched and made some groaning noises in the processes. "Why is it though that none of you guys let me sleep in? You all get up incredibly early for teenagers."

"Well I was woken up by Lauren before she left to go to the showers. Sorry if I woke you at the same time."

"Don't worry about it, I think she woke me up too." Chris fell back into bed "Why was she up so early? Something happen last night? She was making a lot of noise." Andrew's thoughts were soon back onto the topic of conversation from earlier so before his mind started to get ahead of himself he answered rather quickly

"Nothing unusual. Why what did she say?" Chris looked over to him

"Nothing…" Andrew started to go red

"Oh, that's fine then."

"Right…" They were interrupted by Ulysses bringing over their drinks which Andrew took very quickly while Ulysses had to wait for Chris to pull himself up again to take his drink.

"So what's the plan for today?" Andrew asked, trying to change the subject.

"Nothing's been set yet, but I think some team practice this morning wouldn't go a miss. We got our first fight on Monday so we need to be prepared for it. After that, I'm not sure, we could go around the festival again and see if can meet any of the other teams fighting in the tournament." Andrew nodded and took a sip of his drink. "Oh, you want to see if Carissa' up for it?" This comment made Andrew splutter his tea and spray it over himself as he coughed several times making his two team mates look at him in shock. After composing himself he said

"Excuse me…"

"What was that about?"

"Was the tea not to your liking Andrew?" Ulysses asked as he wondered what he'd done wrong to make the tea which was soon dispelled when Andrew shook his head

"No, nothing like that. Sorry, I… I don't know what came over me."

"You all right?" Andrew nodded but Chris didn't look appeased by that as he took a drink of his coffee. "Something happen with Carissa? She all right?" Andrew didn't reply. "Oh for the love of god, please don't tell me you screwed up again and hurt her feelings!"

"I do not think so. He is not upset like last time so I doubt that this would be the case."

"Well somethings up. Come on we've been through enough that you should be able to speak to us." With a sigh Andrew said

"It's nothing bad just… awkward thanks in large part to Lauren for bring something up. Don't worry, I'll sort it out." He then took a proper drink of his tea without spitting it back out. Chris and Ulysses gave each other a puzzled look then followed Andrew's lead and drank their coffee's. When Lauren came back into the room nothing more was said about what had happened and when they were all ready, they left for the cafeteria to get some breakfast.

As they ate, Andrew remained quiet and was thankful that Lauren didn't say anything about what she had said to him earlier and all he could think was that she was being nice because of what he had said before he left for his shower. When they were done they did what Chris had suggested and found a place to practice their team manoeuvres and coordination, but Chris could tell that Andrew still wasn't all there. After they had finished they took another walk around the festival grounds, but this didn't last long as Ulysses wanted to do some tinkering with his E.X.O suit and Lauren headed off with some of her other friends, so Chris used this time to speak to Andrew.

"So, come on. Tell me what all that was this morning because that was weird. The fact that Lauren was also quiet about it makes me even more nervous." Andrew grimaced

"It was a joke that she took too far. That's all."

"Nah that's not it, if it was then you would have shrugged it off in seconds. No this in lingering on you so just tell me."

"I did, Lauren was being annoying and its put me in a bad mood."

"Oh so just like any other day then?" Chris' mocking tone made Andrew groan.

"Screw you."

"Come on, I know it's something. What's your problem this time?"

"I don't have a problem except when someone tells me I have a problem."

"Well you definitely do because last night you were happy, really happy and now you're not so something happened to change it."

"I told you it was Lauren bringing up something she shouldn't have done!" This made Chris pause

"What did she say?" Andrew was looking for any way to get out of this and he couldn't see anything that could help him. "You can't leave it like that so just tell me what she said, if you don't I'll ask her."

"NO!" Andrew was shocked at himself for shouting like he did and from Chris' face he was too and after a moment to compose himself he said "Okay, I'll tell you but please don't go overboard on this." Chris nodded

"Sure."

"Right… well you see… she asked… well actually she accused me of…" He trailed off for a bit then under his breath he added "She thinks I slept with Carissa last night." Chris let out a cheer

"Damn! Did you?"

"No!"

"Oh come on, you can tell me I promise I won't say anything. You did, right?"

"I didn't!"

"Of course!" but with a wink he added "But you did right, you lucky git!"

"No I didn't! Why do you both think that?"

"Well its more like we thought it would be better for you."

"What?!"

"Just that if you got your leg over then you might ease up a bit and not be so… well you." Andrew started to walk away from Chris, but he just walked at the same speed. "I'm sure that if you did you'll feel better or if you're not ready then you could just… you know." Andrew looked at him waiting for him to continue as Chris began to mime an action with his hand and wrist which he understood perfectly well.

"Really?!"

"What? We're all human and sometimes it can help you relax."

"I'm not having this conversation with you!"

"Its fine, everyone has done it at least once." Andrew didn't reply for some time and Chris raised an eyebrow. "You have done it once in your life haven't you?" The silence that followed told Chris the answer. "Damn, no wonder you're so cranky all the time. I'm telling you it can help and I'm sure a doctor will tell you that the build up down there is going to kill someone when you finally… unleash it. It's for her health as much as yours" Chris started to chuckle, but Andrew wasn't finding it funny at all.

"Sorry to disappoint you but growing up the way I did, I didn't really have time for things like that so it's just remained something that I don't do."

"Oh god. This explains so much."

"You're enjoying this."

"Look its easy, just find a private place and take some "material" with you that can help get things going then just do it. Trust me you'll feel loads better." Andrew didn't want to talk about it and said nothing making Chris add "Okay, forget the material and just think about Carissa then." This presented Andrew with an image in his head of Carissa, completely naked holding a cover over her sensitive areas.

"That's enough." Andrew snarled

"Got an idea now? Good, go with it!"

"Fuck you."

"Nah, I know you'd rather fuck her." Andrew showed a flash of rage in his face as he shouted at Chris.

"You have no idea what I want to do!"

"Its fine! Calm down! Look if she's not ready then just do what I told you and it'll be okay until she's ready."

"Can you really just stop talking!"

"Or I could go and talk to her for you if you're that shy about sex." Andrew stopped dead

"Don't you dare say anything to Carissa or I will kill you." For once Chris actually believed Andrew when he saw his face and stopped too as the pair stared at each other in silence. After a while Chris put up his hands

"Fine, if you insist. So, you really didn't do anything last night?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Reasons." And with that Andrew left Chris who decided that it would be best he not follow him and let him have some space.

When Andrew got back to the dorm room, he slammed the door in frustration and now that he was back he hoped that he would find some form of peace, that was until he saw Ulysses working on his E.X.O suit.

"Hello Andrew." Ulysses only looked up from his work for a moment and then went straight back to maintenance.

"Hi" Andrew sighed and walked over to his bed and laid down with his hands behind his head.

"Is there something wrong?" Andrew looked over to see that Ulysses had now stopped working. _I guess I just give off that aura of something being wrong today._

"Nothing, well nothing really. Just wanted some peace and quiet." He put his head back and closed his eyes to try and have a nap.

"Andrew, I would like to think that I have known you long enough now that if you do have a problem that you would feel comfortable talking to me about it. Please do not bottle it up." Andrew kept his eyes closed for a while and chose not to answer but he could feel Ulysses eyes staring at him so in the end sat up to speak to him.

"I'm just not happy with Lauren and Chris right now."

"I know. Lauren mentioned you were in a "ass-hat" mood but why Chris?"

"Because he thinks he knows what's best for me without realising what the problem is." Ulysses nodded and replied

"I will listen to what you have got to say and I promise I will do my best to help you so why not tell me what the problem is and maybe I can help."

"Not sure if you can mate."

"You can at least give me a try." _Guess it couldn't hurt_

"Okay but don't go mad at this when I tell you, got it?" Ulysses nodded so Andrew continued. "Lauren and Chris have been pestering me over what I did last night with Carissa, all we did was talk about something personal which lead to a moment." Ulysses didn't say anything and let Andrew continue. "I told her I loved her, and she said the same to me."

"That is fantastic! Why would this cause you problems though?"

"It didn't until Lauren said something when I woke up and now I'm worried."

"Ah, she told me that part. She said you had intercourse last night." Andrew went wide eyed

"We didn't and why does she keep saying that!" Ulysses raised both his hands

"I believe you but why would it have mattered if you did? You are both consenting adults so if you and her have agreed to it then there really is no issue."

"For her maybe but not for me."

"Why? Do you not know what to do? If that's the case then I will explain, first of all I will go through the different reproductive organs starting with the penis…"

"STOP! Stop right there!" the sudden outburst stopped Ulysses mid-sentence as Andrew started to become flustered "I know how it all works down there so please don't say anymore."

"Then what is the problem? Are you afraid because it would be your first time and that you might do something wrong?" Andrew paused and after a few seconds put his head in his hands

"Well now I do!" He groaned through his hands and after a few seconds added "But that's not the reason. Ulysses, I need to ask you something."

"Go ahead." After taking a deep breath he said

"Are humans and Faunus…compatible?"

"Oh, very much so, they can conceive a child very easily but the union between to two will always result in a Faunus child."

"Right… that makes this harder then." After another long pause Andrew said, "What if I get her pregnant?"

"Well that outcome can be minimised dramatically by using birth control methods such as pills or condoms."

"But they're not full prove, are they?"

"No but they do make it near enough impossible when used correctly." Andrew didn't speak. "You are worrying quite a lot about this and I know the reason is not straight forward so tell me what the main problem is." Andrew sat there for a while as he collected his thoughts and finally answered

"I never want to be a father." Ulysses face showed he was startled for a moment then the realisation came to him instantly.

"Oh."

"Yeah. I just can't be a father, I haven't got it in me so I don't even want to risk it."

"I think you are going a bit overboard with this Andrew."

"I don't think so. The only knowledge I have at being a father is from him so how could I be anything but him if I have a child of my own. I'll be just as evil and twisted as that thing, I know it and I can never put anything living thing through that! NEVER!" The room went quiet for a minute until Ulysses stood up and sat himself on the bed next to Andrew.

"You will not be like your farther."

"How do you know that?"

"Simple. Because he lacked something that you have in abundance" As he spoke he taped Andrew on his chest "Heart"

"What?"

"From what I have seen of you and from what I know of your farther the difference is heart. You care for the people in your life and are willing to go to any lengths to protect them and keep them safe and happy. That is an important first step in being a farther."

"It can't be that easy?"

"No. Being a farther is not that easy as there are other things you need to do as well, but you have a great head start and I know that you will pick up the rest in no time. So please stop worrying about it, you need to start believing in yourself more." Andrew scoffed

"I'll try." Ulysses smiled

"That is all I ask." Andrew smiled back at him. He was grateful for their friendship as Ulysses never once gave up on him, even on situations like this and he wondered what he'd done to deserve it.

"How many times have you picked me back up since we first met?" Ulysses shook his head

"I do not think that we need to tally up who helps who. That is not what being friends is all about, we help each other when we need it and enjoy the good times together when they come."

"You can be pretty wise when you want to be. Wish Lauren took a page from you, or several."

"She is a unique person and she will be who she will be." After he took a breath he asked, "I take it that you have not spoken to Carissa about how you feel?" Andrew shook his head

"Not yet and I know I need to, but we haven't even got that far so I didn't want to spook her with talk about kids when we hadn't even done it yet."

"I see, it is very early to be talking about children. But, you should talk to her about this at some point. If you need me to be there when you do, then I am more than happy to help."

"Please no! Thanks and all but it's going to be a really awkward conversation as it is so I don't want anyone else their making it more uncomfortable for everyone present." Ulysses nodded

"Very well but if you change your mind you only need to ask." Andrew reached out and ruffled Ulysses hair

"Thanks, but I got it." After this the rest of the day went by without any more hiccups except when Andrew apologised to his team mates about his mood. He didn't tell them what the issue was but did say that it should for the time being be resolved so he wouldn't be a problem for them. They took what they could get from him, leaving it at that and before they all knew it Monday had rolled around with the tournament beginning with a bang as the first two matches of the day saw Victories for Atlas and Haven defeating Shade and Beacon. Andrew wasn't happy about the Atlas match as it was team COIN that took the victory, but it wasn't too bad as he watched the whole fight to see if there were any weaknesses that he could exploit later in the tournament. To his amusement, there were several so he couldn't wait to face them if he got the chance.

After the lunch break it was then their turn to fight in the arena and they had seen their opponents who they would be facing. It was a team from Shade called Team WEST and from what they had heard about them they would be in for an interesting fight.

As they walked out into the arena, Andrew was taken aback by the sheer size of it from the arena itself to all the seats leading up. Of course, he'd seen that the stadium was large from the outside, but it was a whole different story seeing from the inside with the whole placed filled to capacity. This really hammered home the point that Chris had made before about keeping up appearances of Vale and Beacon so now was the real test to see if he could behave more human.

"This anything like that pit thing you did back home Andrew?" Chris asked breaking his train of thought

"Erm… sort of. Not as big or flashy and no were near as many people would watch. Also, it's a hell of a lot cleaner."

"So, a close resemblance then?" Lauren said sarcastically to which Andrew ignored.

"Well different or not, I hope it doesn't make you uncomfortable."

"Nah. This almost feels like home, fighting for others amusement. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

"Good, just don't try to kill anyone here. It's a friendly fight." Andrew snorted as he knew that this was nothing like the fighting pit he was used to. When they were out on the arena floor they lined up with Lauren on the far left and Ulysses next to her, Chris after him and Andrew on the far right. After they were done the saw their opponents for the first time, Team WEST and took in their appearance which was massively different from there's. After a few seconds one of the other team members spoke out.

"Boy howdy! You guys look mighty sparkly." The one who had spoken was wearing a brown jacket with tassels, simple jean trousers with dirty brown chaps over them and long boots reaching up to his shins as well as a ten-gallon hat that almost hid his face in the shadow it created.

"Thanks, I think." Chris replied

"You fella's sure you're up for a shootout? In them clothes you'd look more at home on a move set than a battlefield." His voice was already irritating Andrew, so he was glad when one of the other team members spoke up

"That's enough Earp." Sam Earp immediately slouched to one side with his hands in his belt. "Don't mind him, he's just a little riled up about this tournament." This was the team leader speaking, Wyatt Bass who had a very different demeanour to Earp, his gravelly deep voice off set Earp's excited tone. This guy was wearing a long, worn black duster coat which was covering most of his body apart from his boots which were the same style as Earp's. He also wore a hat that wasn't as auspicious as Earp's as it was a black Stetson with a gold trim that hardly stuck out unless you were looking for it.

"Don't worry about. It's just friendly banter." Chris was still acting diplomatic towards their opponents when a different one shouted

"Hola pretty lady. After this match you want to go get something to eat?" This guy gave Lauren a quick wink as he spoke. This guy was tanned skinned with his head under a sombrero and a green and red poncho covering his right shoulder which also completely covered his arm. His undershirt was red, but it was difficult to see under two crossed bullet belts that were filled to capacity. Andrew soon burst out laughing to which everyone standing there quickly turned to face him.

"Oh sorry, I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing that someone called her pretty!"

"Just because you can't see my beauty don't think no one else can. Thanks ruggedly handsome." She waved back at him.

"You're welcome Chica, the names Tiburcio. Tiburcio Lay." He then proceeded to blow her a kiss.

"However," she added before he got too carried away "I've already got a man and he's hundred times better than you." She then grabbed Ulysses who looked very confused at the developing situation. This made Tiburcio double take.

"Him?"

"Oh yeah."

"Seriously?"

"You got a problem with him?" As Tiburcio shrugged he said

"No problem with me but if you want a real man the offer still stands."

"I got a real man thanks, maybe he can teach you a thing or two after this in how to be one."

"Oh for god's sake can we all calm down, the fight's not on yet." Chris was trying to stop this situation from getting out of hand before the match even started. Suddenly Earp started to laugh

"hahaha don't you worry sir, we're all gentleman here. We'll just kick your asses quickly and mosey on out of here when we win." This comment from Earp made the final member of the team laugh.

"You said it Earp!" he was Elzy Vásquez, a slender man wearing an outfit that looked like an old soldier costume coloured grey with long black boots and a kepi styled hat. Slung over his shoulder was a blunderbuss and dangling at his side was a short simple sword. Andrew leaned into Chris

"Please let me teach those two a lesson, I'd like to also have a go at that poncho wearing idiot but I'm pretty sure Lauren is going to destroy him." Chris sighed

"This is a tournament match, not a brawl so just keep it out of the gutter and I've not got a problem with it." They were all interrupted by the announcer starting the match.

"Welcome everyone to the Vytal Festival Tournament so let's kick off the second half of day one with this match pitching Team CULA of Beacon against Team WEST of Shade. With Both academies already down a team, they all have something to play for so let's get the arena ready!" The arena holograms came up and started to spin to reveal what the environment would be. After a few seconds the half behind team CULA stopped on ruins and the ruins of a city appeared behind them.

"That does not look promising." Ulysses said when he watched it rise from the ground.

"No, I think this will work fine with strategy three. You all okay with that? Andrew?" The reason he asked Andrew separately was that he was at the front of the plan and would be the main target. With an excited smile he replied

"Damn right I am." Now the other side was ready, and it was the desert that was selected to be behind team WEST.

"The match will start in 3… 2… 1… BEGIN!" Before the word was finished from the announcer's mouth, Andrew was in full charge to the other side of the arena without even drawing his weapon. This sudden start did cause the members of team WEST to pause at this suicidal attack as Wyatt called out

"Gun him down!" Earp and Elzy pulled out their guns and aimed at Andrew and began to open fire while screaming wildly in excitement. They soon stopped as they noticed that all their shots pinged off before they even reached Andrew as he barrelled closer and closer.

"There's something funny about this?" Earp called out in surprise as the four of them readied for the close quarter attack. Andrew kept on running with his barrier being held up in front of him and made wide enough that no one would be able to shoot around it, as he ran forward Chris ran just behind him hiding from the opponents. While they ran forward Ulysses ran backwards and activated his E.X.O suit and climbed the ruins to the highest point and once there locked himself to the floor, put his targeting eye piece in place just as he got his auto gun ready to fire. Lauren had darted off to the outside using Andrew as a distraction and using her wind manipulation to propel herself into the far-left hand side of the arena out of view of team WEST.

As Andrew and Chris got closer, Chris decreased his density to a point he was almost floating as he ran. Immediately as he did this he leapt up into the air as Andrew span around, grabbed him and using the built-up momentum through Chris over his barrier which caused team WEST to take notice. When he was over Chris then increased his density thousand-fold and came plummeting back down to the ground, creating an enormous crater from the impact and scattering team WEST in the aftermath. As they were getting back to their feet, Andrew returned his barrier and charge towards Earp and Elzy and focused his first punch on Earp who had just enough time to see the attack coming and block it with his arms. The force of the punch was enough to still send him flying back but he didn't take as much damage and as Elzy was about to open fire he suddenly came under fire himself from Ulysses, not giving him a chance to attack Andrew while he was open.

"Hay that isn't fair!" Elzy shouted as he ran for cover just as Earp sprang back to his feet

"Thought we'd got ourselves a two on one but he's got long range backup. Never mind, we'll still give you a good fight." Earp drew his revolvers and opened fire on Andrew who had now grabbed his axe and was about to begin his attack in earnest. The barrage of bullets that Earp fired all bounced harmlessly off of Andrew's barrier he had put up which started to annoy him.

"Come on man, what kind of weird crap are you pulling?"

"I could say the same. Do you ever need to reload?" Earp chuckled

"Sometimes but I can see that guns won't work on you so…" He flipped his revolvers in the air and caught the barrels of each gun, as he did curved blades emerged from the handles turning them into tomahawk like axes. Now he was ready he charged at Andrew who lowered his barrier and readied his own axe for the assault. Earp was fast and skilled at dual wielding his weapons as Andrew could only have time to block each attack as it came and not let off and attack of his own. This went on for some time when suddenly he heard a shot and was kicked backwards by Earp into an explosion, that Andrew hadn't seen. It was from Elzy who had readied his gun and was now firing explosive bursts which he had just be caught in the shot of.

"Yee-haw! That got him!" As the dust settled the pair watched carefully for an attack to follow but when it did they weren't ready for it. From the dust came Andrew's axe flying out of it straight towards Earp who wasn't expecting it and was knocked back to the floor on impact, but it wasn't done. It then stopped in mid-air and turned towards Elzy.

"That's not good." Elzy razed his gun and fired but missed as the axe then started spinning towards him and hitting him in the chest, sending him into a nearby rock. Once it was done it then flew back to the now nearly dissipated dust cloud and landed back in Andrew's outstretched hand with an audible clap.

 _I learned a few new tricks this summer, like how to imitate telekinesis by wrapping my barriers around objects and manipulating them as I see fit._

This attack wasn't something they expected so when they got back to their feet, the pair gave each other a quick glance.

"He's an unusual one. _"_ Elzy said

"Darn right don't underestimate him again." To which Andrew smiled

"Good but don't forget about him." He pointed to the ruins as a hail of bullets peppered the area around them causing Earp and Elzy to dart for cover as Andrew ran through it all without a care in the world.

While this was going on, the other combatants were getting into the fight themselves.

"These guys mean business." Tiburcio said as he pushed himself back to his feet with his left hand after the initial ground pound from Chris.

"Oh you don't know the half of it." Lauren's voice came from behind him and it was followed by her hurtling speed. Tiburcio moved just in time to avoid the first kick and then drew his weapon, his right arm. It was a cybernetic arm up to his bicep but in the place of a hand was instead the multiple barrels of a Gatling gun which had a bullet belt linking it to his ammo pack on his back that had all been hidden under his poncho.

"No luck Chica." He aimed and began to unload all the bullets he had at her as she used her wind gusts to move quickly around the shots. She barely just managed to keep one step ahead of where his shots were hitting and after several seconds she changed tactic and charged towards him which caught him of guard. When she was close enough she flew into a round house kick with her boot radiating flames, as she was about to hit Tiburcio his Gatling gun folded into his under arm and a hand folded out from the top that clenched into a fist. As the boot and fist connected it sent out a shockwave that filled the arena with a brilliant light, the flames from Lauren's boot were still burning against Tiburcio fist after the impact but he was unfazed

"Not bad. Thought I had you there." Lauren said

"I'm full of surprises, you can still find out later if you want?" He said with a sly smile to which Lauren tilted her head acting like she was considering it. Then with a move too quick to notice she used her semblance to force her into the air, spinning her other leg into the side of Tiburcio head with such force he went straight into the ground. After adjusting himself he looked back up at her he shouted

"You could have just said no!" she laughed at his response

"I did and if you're going to bawl over a love tap like that then you'll never be able to handle me." And with a wink she stood ready for his counter while letting him stand back up.

"We'll she Chica."

In the centre of the battle line Chris had pushed Wyatt into the heart of the desert side but he had a feeling that he was being lured there as he could tell his opponent wasn't putting up too much of an effort. He was blocking the attacks Chris was dishing out but not initiating any attacks of his own like he was testing Chris' skills before fighting properly.

"Come on man, don't you want to win this?" Chris asked

"Yeah I want to win but I want it to be a decisive victory. I want you to go all out so when I beat you down everyone will see how much stronger I am than you."

"Wow."

"Something wrong with that? Not to your liking?"

"No, that's fine with me but don't complain when you lose before I get serious." Suddenly the two flew at each other as now Wyatt started to fight like he meant it proving he wasn't going to be a push over. He fought in hand to hand style that seemed to be like fighting Lauren and Andrew at the same time, each of his limbs was a deadly honed weapon made for fighting and Chris knew this was going to be tough.

After a few minutes of fighting he decided to take a different approach and leaped back from the fight and used his gauntlet guns to open fire on Wyatt to see if he could force him to use his weapons or semblance. The effect it had was not what he'd expected as Wyatt flipped back out of the shots and took cover behind a rock, waiting for Chris to stop firing.

"You only know hand to hand fighting? If so I'll fight fair and only use my hands." His comment gave no response, so he walked up to the other side of the rock with his guns at the ready. When he got there, he saw no one and panicked at where his opponent had gone until he heard.

"Don't get cocky." Emerging from the rock itself in a quick fluid motion, like he was getting out of a lake, Wyatt was on top of Chris before he could react and took several hits before he could back away from him.

"That was freaky." Chris said as he wiped his face

"Phasing. Can walk through any solid inorganic matter." Wyatt spoke like Chris should be impressed.

"Inorganic huh?" Chris then fired at the sand of the desert, creating a dust storm that made Wyatt cover his face with his coat. While he was distracted, Chris then ran forward and landing a hit right into Wyatt's gut and followed it with another hit to his chest, sending him back into the rock he came out of causing it to burst apart. "So, a punch from something organic is going to hit you just fine. Good to know." Wyatt grumbled as Chris now knew his blades and guns weren't going to be as effective in this fight but as Wyatt was about to launch another attack he was stopped abruptly by a hail of gun fire he wasn't prepared for from behind. Looking at where it had come from he saw Ulysses laying down fire against the rest of his team with such accuracy and timing it was limiting their movements. With a noise of frustration, he called out

"Elzy! Switch out!" Elzy was quick to respond and fled from the two on one fight against Andrew and charged into Chris as he fired a few explosive shots from his Blunderbuss that only created craters either side of Chris. The smoke that formed though was enough to obscure Elzy from Chris as he slung his gun over his back and pulled out his short sword and slashed at Chris knocking him to the ground.

"Go get him Wyatt! I got this one!" Wyatt then started to run back and took cover behind a sand dune as Ulysses shots followed his every step of the way but when he was out of sight did he then pull out his weapon. It was a revolver coloured black with a small scope on it but it soon extended into a full Winchester rifle along with the scope. Now that it was ready he took a long breath and brushed his hat for luck, when ready he jumped up and aimed for Ulysses and in a fraction of a second had already calculated the perfect shot and pulled the trigger. He thought he'd got him, but something happened that took everyone by surprise.

Lauren saw Wyatt stand up and she knew where he was aiming so with an explosive kick she took off from Tiburcio who stood coughing from the aftermath and was in the centre of the arena just before Wyatt pulled the trigger. As the gun shot rang out she went into action and before anyone could blink there was a huge tornado in the middle where she was standing that started to suck up the sand from the desert half of the arena and a few bits of rubble from the ruins. As the bullet from Wyatt passed through the torrent of wind, it was knocked of course and ended up missing Ulysses by a foot and destroying the wall he was standing in front of.

"That could have been a problem." Ulysses wheezed to himself whilst he looked at his saviour now that the tornado had subsided, and she looked pissed.

"Don't shoot at my man." Her voice was so dark that Andrew felt a shiver run up his spin unlike he'd ever experienced. The whole fight had stopped cold from this spectacle as all the men fighting couldn't take their eyes off the woman standing defiantly in the middle of them.

"Boy she's one crazy road lizard ain't she." Earp said standing next to Andrew

"You have no idea." He replied. They looked at each other and laughed for a second then suddenly remembered that they were in the middle of a fight and their axes came to blows once more. Wyatt reloaded his gun with a flourish unfazed by his miss

"Guess I got to take care of you first before I can hit your buddy back there." Chris activated his claws in response

"Don't forget about me."

"CHRIS!" Lauren's voice made him stop dead and slowly turn to face her. "He's mine." Chris didn't even try to argue and move away but not before saying to Wyatt.

"You brought this upon yourself."

"Don't worry Wyatt I got her!" Elzy then charged at Lauren who without looking created a wind gust that pushed ELzy right back to where he was originally near Andrew. When he'd stopped moving he took a breath to recover the wind that was knocked out of him. "On second thoughts, you can take her out." Wyatt didn't look impressed and then immediately opened fire on Lauren.

"He's not going to have a good time." Chris said to himself

"Neither are you!" Suddenly a hail of bullets flew around Chris as he jumped into action to try and avoid them but every few shots one came close to getting him. Chris couldn't get near his new opponent in the form of Tiburcio with his Gatling gun arm so he activated his gauntlet guns to fight back with fire power of his own. Unfortunately, he couldn't get a good enough shot on him so only managed to make Tiburcio stop firing for a second or two as he avoided Chris' shots. Knowing this wouldn't get him anywhere, Chris came up with a new tactic to stop this unending bullet storm, so he decreased his density and jumped into the air and boosted himself forward firing his guns behind him all the while Tiburcio continued to shoot him. When Chris was over him he increased his density to come crashing back down but Tiburcio moved to avoid the impact.

"Nice try but I've seen that move already!" and as Chris was about to hit the ground Tiburcio shielded himself from the coming attack but was surprised when it didn't come. Instead of increasing his density to what he used at the start of the fight, Chris merely put it back to his normal density and landed harmlessly right in front of Tiburcio. While his opponent was waiting for an attack that wouldn't come, Chris activated his blade and sliced the bullet belt connecting the arm to the ammo pack on Tiburcio which did catch his attention.

"Ah crap!"

"That should shut that thing up now!" Chris was very please with himself that he had no time to block as the gun changed into a fist and smacked him several times in the face and chest, knocking him to the ground.

"I'm not solely reliant on my gun you fresa!" Chris was dazed by the number of attacks that he hadn't had time to register what had happened and was moments away from being taken out of the match. That was until a huge wall of rock flatten Tiburcio from behind, instantly taking him out of the fight and as Chris focused he saw a familiar face standing where his opponent was seconds ago.

"Sorry about that! I did not want to take your victory, but I could not just stand there and let him attack you anymore!" Chris collapsed onto the floor

"Don't worry about it Ulysses, thanks for the save."

As their fight was ending, the fight between Lauren and Wyatt was just starting as Wyatt opened fire on her with deadly accuracy. Lauren swiftly moved around the bullets which were making a mess of the arena floor but not her.

"Stay still!"

"Ha! Like I'll do that because you asked!" Lauren then shot off at a speed that no one could see and in seconds was face to face with Wyatt, she was too close for him to shoot her so he dropped his gun and started to use his fists to which Lauren retaliated with her boots. After a series of blocks from the pair they stepped apart for a moment to gauge their opponent and then charged back in with the same tenacity they were using moments before. During a lethal clash of blows that caused them to stop Wyatt asked

"If I'd have known shooting that guy would get you closer to me then I would have done that sooner. You're pretty hot when you're angry." Lauren rolled her head.

"Seriously, does everyone on your team want me? Didn't you hear me say I got someone or are you just deaf?" This made Wyatt laugh

"Nope, but it ain't going to stop us from trying." Before he finished Lauren had fired a shot of electricity from her boot and shocked him into a fit allowing her to get in close and after a series of kicks sent him flying straight up into the air with a flame covered boot. When he reached the apex of his ascension Lauren used her wind gust to send herself hurtling up after him and when she was level with Wyatt, booted him back down with an ice kick that exploded into an spiky iceberg when Wyatt hit the ground, encasing him in ice. When Lauren landed she could see Wyatt slowly phase out of the ice but was still shivering from the cold and looked at her.

"Okay… maybe… that… might…stop…us…" Lauren smiled happily

"Great! Just making sure we're all clear on that!" And with one final round house kick, she took Wyatt out of the match and made him far quieter as a bonus.

Andrew was now back to fighting both Earp and Elzy which was making him get rather frustrated as all he could do was block one while the other set up an attack to which he would then need to block. This cycle continued for a while until Elzy ran back from the fight, much to Earp annoyance.

"What do ya think you're doing?!"

"Ending this idiot!" And Elzy pointed his gun right at Andrew and Earp who were still in combat and fired his explosive round, sending the pair flying apart.

"You son of a bitch Elzy! I was standing right there!" Earp shouted as he got back to his feet.

"Quit complaining. You're still standing!" Andrew quickly looked at his aura level which was a little over 50% and then compared it to Elzy and Earp. Earp was just under 50% but Elzy was only at 30% after all the hits he'd taken from Andrew, Chris and Lauren so he became his main target.

"If you two need a moment to sort out your lovers spat then don't mind me, I'll just have a quick rest."

"You shut your mouth!" Elzy was getting angry but Earp stayed cool

"Don't worry partner, we've got him right where we want him. Go ahead, now I'm out of the firing line, give him a few blasts to perk him up a bit."

Seeing that Elzy was about to fire his explosive shot, Andrew decided that he'd had enough of that and knew how to put an end to it. The moment before ELzy pulled the trigger, Andrew put up one of his barriers in the barrel of the blunderbuss so when the shot went off he caused the shot to backfire and the explosion it should have shot out instead remained inside the gun. The resulting action rang out over the arena followed by Elzy flying over the side of the battleground while he screamed all the way, smacking into the wall. Not only was he out of the arena, his aura level was almost completely gone so even if he'd not been knocked out, he would still be out of the match.

"Holy shit!" Earp watched the whole thing unfold and stood dumbfounded but when he recomposed himself as he looked straight at Andrew. "You're a real bastard ain't ya."

"So I've been told." In a flash Andrew was charging into Earp with his axe at the ready, he was staying low and watching Earp's every move waiting for him to make his move. Earp started to back pedal while he opened fire with his revolvers with each shot hitting its mark and depleting Andrew's aura, but it wasn't enough to stop him. When he was only a few feet away Andrew used a barrier snap under his feet, propelling him forward at a speed that Earp couldn't register quick enough and found himself being sent sideways from the blow from Andrew's axe. Earp crashed into a rock, shattering it on impact and as he tried to get back up he was shocked to see that Andrew was already standing over him. With a sigh he said

"Damn, I don't know what you are, but you must be a damn demon to take that much and still keep coming."

"Sorry to say that I'm just a normal guy." Earp chuckled at his response

"Ah that's good to know, means this should work pretty good." Suddenly an item dropped from his sleeve into his hand, Andrew didn't see it quick enough to have any clue into what it was or what it could do. As he was about to raze a barrier, the item went off in a brilliant flash so bright that Andrew was forced to look away and cover his face. His eyesight was compromised as all he could see were blotches and spots every time he opened his eyes and before long he heard gun shots coming from Earp's revolvers as well as feel the shots hit his back. Each shot seemed to move around him but because he couldn't see he could only guess at where Earp was going. With each shot he also knew that his aura was depleting so he needed to act fast and he came up with a plan that would either win or lose the fight.

"This is going to be interesting." Andrew smiled to himself as his axe began to resonate while he poured his semblance into it and when he couldn't hold it anymore he unleashed the barrier slash into the ground creating an explosion. All the steam that was released from the attack coupled with the sand that was dispersed from the explosion made the perfect screen cover and caught Earp in the attack.

"What in tarnation was that!?" The shooting had now stopped and Andrew could now narrow down where Earp was from where his voice was coming from through the debris. Already starting to feel woozy from his own attack, Andrew moved as quick as he'd dare on his feet, while keeping his eyes shut, towards the sound of Earp cursing the current situation he was in. When Andrew was on top of the voice he swung his axe horizontally and it came into contact with Earp as he let out a cry of surprise, knocking him away from the dust cloud. He then proceeded to walk out and opened his eyes that were still suffering from the flash to look at Earp who was lying on the floor rubbing his side with his eyes tightly clenched shut.

"Yeah, I don't think that went well for either of us." Earp laughed

"No joke." Earp was unharmed and in no shape to fight back. "I think you got me pal." Andrew had no idea what either of their aura levels were, but he knew that he was in better condition than Earp. The commentators hadn't announced that either one was out, so the match was still going.

"You made me work for it. You're a hell of a resourceful fighter."

"And as I said you're a bastard." Andrew smiled and sighed at the same time.

"Sorry but we still got to fight."

"Bugger…" Earp wheezed then tried to open his eyes which were red and running with water from all the sand that had blown into his face. "Just making it quick, I'm done." Andrew nodded and knelt next to him and said

"Sure, it was good fight."

"Meh, not bad when you look at it." Andrew then tapped Earp on the head hard enough with the back side of his axe for his aura to register it as an attack which then caused a buzzer to sound.

"And with that final attack team WEST have been eliminated! What a match we've just witnessed, and Beacon academy will be happy about that victory, congratulation team CULA!" Andrew looked back at Earp who was trying to sit up so Andrew gave him a hand up only to then feel the wave of exhaustion wash over him so sat down next to him with time to catch his breath, he then smiled at team CULA's first victory in the tournament.


	38. CULA vs SOLZ

"Congratulations team! We've made it through to the next round!" Chris cheered as the four of them sat around a table in the festival grounds, drinks in hand and plates of food in front of them. As they crashed their cups together they all felt a sense of pride over their victory and relief that for the time being they didn't need to worry too much.

"That was a hell of a match, didn't think things would get that hairy in the first round." Andrew added after he took a long drink from his cup.

"Nah. That wasn't anything special." Andrew gave Lauren a sigh

"Coming from the one who decimated their team leader, you must have expected something extraordinary."

"Seeing as each academy is sending their best teams then yeah, it should have been a lot closer than that."

"It was for me, without Ulysses I think I would have been taken out by the metal arm guy." Chris said between mouthfuls of food.

"I am just glad that you were unharmed. I could not think of any other way of stopping him at the time… I hope he is okay?"

"HAHAHA! You dropped a wall on him, he's not going to be "okay" Ulysses!" Lauren laughed causing Andrew to splutter from his drink.

"Really?! Holy crap!"

"Don't worry Ulysses, I'm sure he's fine. In the first match one of the team mates from Haven was buried in an avalanche from the mountain arena and he's ready to leave the hospital in the next couple of days." Chris' words seemed to ease Ulysses, but he still wasn't fully convinced. "Seriously, he's going to be okay. Anyway, we've got other things to worry about like who's going through to the next round."

"Well you can count me out. I'm not interested in any more fighting." Chris turned toward Lauren with a raised eyebrow

"Out of all of us I thought you would have been the best choice to go forward. Why don't you want to?"

"As I said, not interested. We've proven a point that we can work well as a team and that we can handle ourselves in a proper fight, so I don't think I've got anything else to prove myself."

"What about gaining a victory for Beacon? For Vale?"

"What about it?"

"You're not concerned over that?" Lauren shrugged

"Nope. This whole tournament is just so each kingdom can show off, flex their hunter muscles and eventually one can feel superior over the others when they win. At least for two years then it all happens again." The other three remained silent for a while until Andrew spoke up

"Wow… didn't know you were so anti-kingdom. I might have something I like about you after all." After only a moment he added "Still hate you though." Lauren suddenly threw a bread roll at Andrew's head then laughed as he was momentarily stunned.

"If we can resume the serious topic of conversation children." Chris did not seem amused over the pair but they all calmed down. "Good, so I take it that you're out then?" He said looking at Lauren.

"Indeed."

"Fine so it's between us three then." Chris looked over Andrew and Ulysses.

"If she's really out then I guess I'm happy with either of you two, knowing that I won't have to fight alongside her is a pleasing thought."

"Andrew. Please stop saying things like that about Lauren." Andrew sighed at Ulysses

"Come on mate, you know we hate each other."

"Loath is more along the right lines." Lauren piped up as she was eating her food.

"Thanks, loath. Definitely loath but we are fine together. It works between us." Once again Ulysses was not to impressed with the response, but he didn't say anymore.

"You want to go to the next round Andrew?" The question came from Chris and Andrew suddenly felt like he really did want to go into the next round. He hadn't thought about it before now as he wasn't even sure if they would pass the first stage.

"Yeah… I'd like to put my hat into the ring."

"Why doesn't that surprise me." Once again Lauren tried to speak while eating hoping to get a rise out of Andrew.

"Well I'm okay with that. You were capable of fighting two guys at once in the last match, so the doubles wouldn't be so bad for you. Just don't get cocky, your next opponents will be much more difficult."

"Don't worry, I'll keep a level head."

"Good, now all you need is a partner…" After looking at Ulysses, Chris smiled and gave a single nod. "Ulysses, you should do it." Ulysses went pale and froze.

"Me…." He took several deep breaths "Me…"

"Yes. You two should be the ones to go through."

"Why not you?!"

"Because I think I've done what I needed to do in this tournament and this could be good for you."

"You cannot be serious! Compared to you two I am not even on a comparable level of skill."

"You're much better than you think Ulysses. You saved me in the last match and you have the advantage that you're suit, and abilities can be altered from match to match. They could be facing a completely different guy to the one they saw before."

"But what if I cause us to lose the match?"

"You won't." Andrew's voice broke the conversation between the pair.

"How can you be so sure?" Ulysses asked him

"Because I just know."

"That is not very logical or conclusive. It should be you and Chris." Chris shook his head

"As I said, I've taken what I needed from this. I've tried my leadership skills in combat and the next two rounds won't be as effective at honing that for me. Also…" Chris looked briefly at Andrew "I think you'll be a lot better at keeping him on track." Andrew quickly stuck his middle finger up at Chris.

"I am not sure I could do this." Ulysses still wasn't sure about the choice.

"You can. You are a member of team CULA, you made it through to your second year and you got the most stubborn ass-hole I've ever met to work as a part of this team. If anyone can with win the next round as his partner then its certainly you." Ulysses looked round the group, both Lauren and Andrew gave him a reassuring smile and Chris nodded in approval. With a deep breath Ulysses finally answered.

"If you are all sure then I will accept, I will fight in the doubles round." The Three of them made a cheer and Andrew put his arm around Ulysses' shoulders.

"This is going to be great! We've got this in the bag!" However, Ulysses was looking rather nervous so Andrew said. "Hay it doesn't matter if we win or lose, this is just a competition. It's not like it's a real-world mission so there's no need to be so concerned?"

"I just do not want to let you all down." The look on Ulysses face almost made Andrew feel depressed so he shook him gently.

"Not possible I'm afraid Ulysses because that's my job, you just focus on working your brilliant mind and I'll do the heavy lifting. Trust me you'll always be fine when I've got your back."

The next day Andrew and Chris watched team ACKE in their match against a team from Haven and during the match Andrew observed their manoeuvres. The team were good, in Andrew's opinion they were really good which did make him wonder what would happen if they had to face each other in the tournament later.

One of the things that he noticed was that each member of the team acted in unison with each other in a way that defied logic, like precognition and after a while Andrew realised what was going on. Carissa was using her semblance, her telepathy, to co-ordinate with the others which meant that their opponents wouldn't be able to hear them and plan against it. Even though Andrew was impressed by that he was more fascinated with Arthur and his semblance called Ancestral Memory which allowed him to delve into his blood line and use any of his ancestor's combat styles at will. Seeing him switch between all these in seconds made watching him fight both fascinating and terrifying making Andrew feel even more uneasy about facing them in the tournament.

"Crap, they're amazing."

"Yeah they are. Wonder if they wouldn't mind doing some training with us?" Andrew glanced over at Chris.

"Could have done with that before this all started."

"Ha! They got you that worried now? What if they send Carissa through to the doubles? What if she ends up in the finals? That could make things REALLY interesting." Andrew shuddered

"I hope that doesn't happen, I really don't want to end up fighting her at some point. It could make our relationship interesting afterwards."

"That's true, if you win then you're a woman beater but if she wins then you are whipped. Either way you lose." The comment was played as a joke and even as Andrew hit Chris in the shoulder, he wondered what could really happen if that fight came to be.

"Can I withdraw from the doubles?"

"HA! Nope! All done and dusted now so you'll just have to suck it up and except it." The sigh that came from Andrew afterwards made Chris laugh again. "Ah don't sulk, I'm sure everything will be fine."

"Meh, I guess it's a long shot. I think one of us would be out before we ended up in a fight."

"We'll just have to wait and see." Chris smiled as Andrew shook his head in annoyance but carried on watching the match while he cheered for his friends.

When ACKE won the match Andrew could just about hear the cheers from his school mates over his own cheering but there were a lot of boo's coming from the crowd and many of them aimed at Carissa for being a Faunus. He was about to stand up and march up into the crowd in a fit of rage but was stopped by Chris grabbing his arm.

"Don't do it."

"You want me to just sit back and let them insult them?!"

"Yes! You cause a scene and you'll only make it worse."

"You can hear them too! You can't say that you're fine with this?!"

"Of course I'm not but you picking a fight with the Atlas public isn't going to help anybody! Please calm down, you'll only make things far worse for her." With a growl Andrew replied

"This is stupid, because I want to defend my friends, my girlfriend, I'm in the wrong?"

"We're in Atlas, unfortunately this is the norm so don't push it. Come on let's go, we've seen what we needed to see so let's get out of here." They left the arena immediately after team ACKE left the battle floor and Chris decided that Andrew needed to cool off before he did something that everyone else would regret. Andrew didn't agree with Chris, but his team mate didn't give him any choice as he almost ordered Andrew back to their temporary dorm room. When he arrived, he opened the door to find that he wasn't alone.

"Oh, you're here. Guess I won't get any peace and quiet then." Lauren was blow drying her hair but stopped when she saw Andrew.

"Hi sulky, can you be miserable somewhere else? I'm getting ready to go out and can't be arsed with you right now."

"And you think I want to be here? I'm only here on team leaders' orders with added punishment of being with you."

"The fact you take orders from him make me like Chris even more." Andrew's unamused face made Lauren smile. "What happened?"

"Argh. I just don't like these people from Atlas."

"Oh that's a shocker! You don't like something! Tell me is there anything you do actually like?" Andrew made a murmuring noise and went over to his bed.

"I like Carissa and I don't like it when people say awful things about her because she was born a Faunus." There was a pause "Why do we have to hate each other? Humans and Faunus, it makes no difference what we are, we are all living beings so there's no difference, but some people just can't see that."

"Aww its nice to hear you sticking up for her, but you don't have to tell me this, I'm already on your side."

"Great… somehow that makes me feel worse."

"Just doing my job!" with a sigh Andrew then asked

"Where are you going? Actually, more importantly WHEN are you going?"

"I'm going out with Ulysses, we're going into Atlas properly to see the sights."

"Really, you wouldn't find that boring?"

"Between that and being stuck here with you, I know which one I'd choose. Besides its not the sights I'm interested in." Andrew suddenly found himself smiling just a little bit.

"Right, well enjoy yourself and don't tease him too much. Ulysses deserves better than that." Lauren scoffed

"What do you mean tease him?"

"Well you always act clingy with Ulysses so I just thought you were playing with him, you know teasing him." Lauren didn't change her expression. "That's what everyone thought not just me." She turned away, grabbed a hair brush and began to brush her hair all the while leaving Andrew's statement hanging in the air. He started to feel uneasy about the fact she was so quiet but just as he was going ask what she was doing she spoke

"Did you know that every guy I've met while being at Beacon has either hit on me or asked me out?"

"Erm… no."

"Yep, even your buddy Qrow asked me out on a date when we met. You may like him, but I wasn't impressed."

"Fair enough but I think you two would have made a cute couple." Andrew was joking and Lauren knew instantly as she scoffed at the thought of being with Qrow.

"It gets really annoying."

"I'll take your word for it."

"Yeah, they all see me and the first thing they do is start thinking with their dicks."

"I doubt that is entirely true." Lauren raised her eyebrow.

"I know what they want."

"Can you blame them, I know I find you insufferable and on rare occasions the embodiment of annoyance, but I can say you don't look… unsightly." Lauren gave a brief chuckle.

"That might be the nicest thing you've ever said to me."

"Don't get used to it." Andrew groaned with a half-arsed smile.

"Aww thanks, you're not such an ugly bastard yourself." She replied which caused Andrew to laugh for a moment. "When it comes to things like that, I'm not really a big fan of…it."

"It?" he asked but before she could say anything he realised what she was getting at. "Oh it! Is this because of…" Andrew tailed off as a wave of shame went over Lauren's face and he remembered what she had once told him about her past, about what the bandits who had captured her did to her. After a few moments of silence Lauren's face changed back to her normal face

"All those guys at Beacon just see a girl they could bed and all I see is the same bandits that took me."

"It's okay, please don't say any more." Being someone who struggled with his own past, he didn't want Lauren to have a similar problem recounting hers. It was strange though because Lauren always seemed more adjusted with it and had come to terms with what had happened whereas he couldn't bare thinking about it for a single moment.

"Because of that I swore off it forever. Man or woman, I never wanted to experience it again or even be with anyone."

"I understand."

"Before I came to Beacon the few boys I met after David saved me all tried the same thing. They wanted me to be their girl and I never wanted to "belong" to someone again." Andrew nodded "Until…"

"Until?"

"I met Ulysses. When I met him, he treated me like a person, like a normal girl and he had no intention of wanting to be with me. He was just being nice because that's the kind of person he is and the more I got to know him, the more I started to like him. After a while I started to want to be with him but he's so innocent that he'd never do or say anything about it."

"Really? He's not got a clue? Seriously?"

"I never hid how I felt, he just thinks I'm being nice. He treats me like a person not an object." With a sigh she said, "It's nice to be seen as someone and not something again." Once more Andrew began to feel sorry for her

"You really should just tell him, he's a great guy but he's not so smart when it comes to certain subjects like dating."

"You're really giving me relationship advice? After what happened between you and Carissa?"

"Hay, we're together now aren't we? I asked her out knowing it was a risk, I think you should try with Ulysses?"

"Why do you care?" she asked, and Andrew took a deep breath

"Because he's my best friend and deserves to be with someone who cares about him. I'm even going to admit that a crazy idiot like you will be good enough for him because of what I saw in our match with team WEST."

"Oh that thing in the middle of the fight…" she looked away "I didn't lie and I wasn't putting on a show before you say anything else."

"Well I heard you in the arena, in fact I think everyone heard you in the whole world when you protected him. Although I never heard you say it quite like that before but it's the first time I thought you were genuine. I just marked it as you playing the joke really well to mess with him though like always, however after what you just told me then yeah… I think I can accept that." Lauren chuckled

"Are you telling me I have your permission to ask him out?"

"Ahh… I suppose." She laughed again.

"Okay, not that I needed it but it makes me happy knowing you'd be fine with it although I didn't think you'd be acting this protective over him."

"I'd die for him." Her face was shocked at the response and the speed of its delivery.

"That's a little over the top. Oh who am I kidding you're always over the top, I shouldn't have thought otherwise."

"He never gave up on me, he's someone who this world sorely needs so I'm not letting him suffer if I can prevent it."

"Ha! So what you're saying is that him being with me wouldn't be suffering! That's all I need to know, you can't say anything against it now that you've flat out admitted it!" Andrew blinked then after a few moments to think he realise he had, in a roundabout way admitted that even though Lauren drove him around the twist, it wouldn't be bad for them to date.

"Crap…"

"Hahaha this is perfect! Now you can't say anything against us and have to smile and nod!" as she looked at him she then lost her ecstatic face. "Crap, this also means I can't see you get pissed off because you're okay with it… well that sucks." Now Andrew laughed

"That's true! So, we both got what we wanted but can't piss the other off about it, stalemate."

"I think we'd better decide one of us won or we might be in danger of getting along! Yuck!"

"That'll never happen remember, we loath each other."

"Couldn't have said it better myself." The pair smiled and just as Andrew was about to move Lauren simply said, "Thank you." Andrew didn't need to ask why and nodded once to show he'd acknowledged it. Lauren then carried on getting ready for a while as Andrew lay on his bed with his hands behind his head and for a while there was silence. Until after about ten minutes Lauren said

"You know, out of everyone I've met, there was only one other person who treated me differently. Like a person and didn't start with any cheesy chat up lines."

"Who was that?" Andrew asked Lauren from across the room then felt a deodorant bottle hit him in the chest causing him to sit up straight.

"The guy who will always remain sulky to me." Andrew paused for a moment then followed with a sigh.

"How could I forget about that. I was just pissed at you, so somethings never change. At the time it was for… erm… I forget. What was the problem again?" After everything that had happened in the time since he'd forgotten the very reason for their unusual relationship.

"Well if you've forgotten then I'm not going to remind you." Lauren said which made Andrew chuckle.

"I think I'd better remember, can't be pissed at you for no reason or it'll just be weird."

"It's already weird… but it's a weird that I really like between us. Everyone thinks that we really hate each other and wonder how we can be on the same team."

"Well we do hate each other, don't we? I mean we've never got along and since we first met all we do is annoy and piss each other off, most of the time."

"Oh, I know. One day when you least expect it I'm going to get you back for all those times you put your barriers up right in front of my face when I'm walking!" Andrew burst out laughing.

"HA! That always brightens my day. So what are you going to do as payback? Dye my hair a stupid colour? Put super glue in my underwear or are you just going to cut off an appendage by "accident". Lauren contemplated each one and then shook her head.

"Nah, nothing like those. I'll probably just use a wind blast to knock you off Beacon cliff when we get back." After a pause they both then suddenly laughed.

"Good luck with that!"

"Thanks! I'm going to need it, you're such a heavy bastard that I might have to make another tornado just to get you off the ground!" Lauren then paused for a moment and said "Andrew can I ask you to promise me something…" Andrew tilted his head in surprise

"I guess but what is it?"

"Never change, as crazy as it sounds I like us being like this. You know, the whole playful hate thing."

"Really? Playful hate? You like how we treat each other?"

"I do. It's something that's just ours, something that makes our relationship special." Andrew still wasn't sure what she was going on about and got up off his bed.

"You think we have a relationship? Okay… fine I'll except we do but still, you want us to continue doing this? I would have thought you'd make me promise that I'd treat you better?" She smiled and shook her head at the same time.

"No. I don't want that." Before Andrew could ask another question, she was already answering it. "You remind me so much of my brother." Andrew suddenly felt his mind go blank. "We were always on each other's nerves, from the moment we could both walk. Having you like this makes me feel like he's still here, looking out for me."

"Oh…" he was speechless. This sudden and completely unexpected confession had taken him by surprise and now he didn't know what to do about this. But he eventually knew what he needed to say, "I promise that for as long as I'm breathing, I'll always do my best to cause you as much irritation as possible and be a constant pain in your ass." Lauren made a short laugh that soon turned into a sob as she walked over to him and flung her arms around him while he put his arms around her and for once in their lives Andrew and Lauren showed how much they really meant to each other. After a few minutes they let each other go,

"Right, I'm going to leave you to it Lauren. I'm feeling hungry and I'm hoping that ramen store at the festival ground is still open. See you later." Andrew gave her a wave and turned to leave.

"Enjoy yourself, see you when I see you." As Andrew got close to the door, he reached out his hand to turn the door handle but as he did Lauren decided to something first. She created a strong enough wind gust that made Andrew shoot forward and smack into the door he was about to open. when he backed away trying to comprehend what had happened, he then misplaced his feet and felt himself fall to the floor, so he reached out to steady himself. As he did, he grabbed a shelf that wasn't secure, and he fell regardless whilst also knocking it of the wall as well as causing everything on it to crash on top of him afterwards. When the disturbance had finished, Lauren heard a single "Ouch" from under the pile of items covering Andrew's head and began to laugh hysterically.

"Oh gods! That went so much better than I planned!" Andrew moved a book off his face and stared daggers back at her.

"Well it might be someone else that'll go for a flying lesson of beacon cliff when we get back" His voice showed he was not amused but her laughter was so loud that he wasn't sure if she even heard him. Because of this he saw no reason in arguing the point and got up for the door, having better success in leaving on his second attempt, leaving Lauren to enjoy her victory."

For the next week the first rounds of the tournament continued and before they knew it the doubles stage was soon underway. Andrew and Ulysses were not called up in the first three days so were able to enjoy the matches while watching the victors for weaknesses that they could exploit in the finals. When they were at last called up to fight, it was against a team from Haven Academy called Team SOLZ (Souls) and Andrew was annoyed that they were from a team he'd not seen so couldn't properly prepare for it.

As Andrew and Ulysses were getting ready to enter the arena, Andrew turned to his partner.

"What did you decided to go with in the end?"

"I chose the circular blades and my improvised pulse cannon."

"Damn. I didn't think that was ready?"

"I have tested it and it works quite well. It should do fine." Andrew smiled

"If you made it then I've got no doubt. Come on, let's get out there."

As they walked out into the arena, Andrew tried to eye up their opponents, but they hadn't come out just yet but after only a minute they suddenly emerge from their entry way and stood opposite them. Looking at the two opponents from team SOLZ made Andrew double take as from what he had heard about the team these two were brothers but couldn't be any more different from each other. The larger one of the pair was Smithe Miyazaki who looked like a weird combination of overweight and muscular that made his almost bold round head look rather small in comparison to his body. He worn plated golden armour and, in his hands, he held his weapon that he had called the "Executioner" which was a massive two headed hammer with one side larger than the other.

Standing next to Smithe in a much more casual stance was Oliver Miyazaki, he was smaller, thin and leaner than his brother with much lighter looking leather armour. His red hair was all stuck up and blown back looking more like from his facial expression that he was about to go on a fair ground ride as he twirled his weapon in one hand in the form of a small dagger called "Dragon Slayer".

"They do not seem to look like brothers to me." Andrew whistled out a deep breath

"I have to agree but according to the team roster they are."

"Unless they are twins they cannot be on the same team so how have they done this?" Before Andrew could make a guess, they were interrupted by their opponents.

"We are twins if you must know." Oliver called out which made both Ulysses and Andrew blink in surprise. "You ever hear of mirror twins? Well that's us." Oliver looked pretty smug with his explanation, but it seemed to annoy Smithe.

"Stop talking to our opponents." Oliver chuckled as he hit Smithe in the arm.

"I was just being friendly, don't be such an ass brother."

"Just don't forget that we need to beat these guys, not take them out for lunch." This made Oliver laugh out loud.

"No problem there, they'll be down and out before they even know what hit them." Andrew scoffed

"Don't be so sure about, we don't go down easy." Now Smithe laughed

"Don't be stupid, your little pal there looks like he could be knocked down by a slight breeze." Ulysses looked down at the ground and sighed which made Andrew start to become angry.

"Then that'll make you look like a real weakling when he buries you in the dirt." Smithe's smile turned evil.

"We'll just see about that."

"Looks like this is going to be a good fight." Oliver said as he span his dagger in the air and caught it with his other hand whilst Ulysses leaned into Andrew.

"Do you think we can win this? Even with me as your partner?" Andrew patted Ulysses on the shoulder

"Damn right we can, don't let them put you down. You focus on Oliver and let me deal with that mass of arrogance, he won't be so conceited when I knock him down a peg or two." The arena then came to life as the sections were selected, and they became geyser fields, ruins, mountain and long grass. Then the announcers began the count down and as soon as the match began, Andrew was unprepared with what happened next.

Oliver came flying at him so fast that he didn't have time to grab his axe and just had to take the hit from the dagger which sparked with electricity sending a jolt of pain through him and making him stumble backwards.

"Andrew!" Ulysses cried out

"Don't worry about him small fry!" and with an earth-shattering crash, Smithe's hammer destroyed the centre of the arena and causing Ulysses to leap into the air towards the long grass. He activated Tattie Bogal and his buzz saw attachments and waited for the much slower Smithe to run over to him.

Andrew had just about got stable on his feet and pulled out his axe from his holster on his back and blocked the next series of blows from Oliver's dagger. Unlike the other opponents that Andrew had faced in his life, Oliver was different simply because he utilised speed to such a degree over strength to a point where some of his moves were so quick Andrew didn't know where the attack would hit until it hit him.

"Thought so! You the strong and slow type! Easy!" Oliver was smiling the same smile he began with the whole time they were fighting. This was starting to annoy Andrew as he raised his axe to start his attack and after swinging it several times at Oliver his annoyance grew as none of his attacks even came close to hitting him.

"Oh dear! Losing your cool are we." Oliver skilfully avoided each swing from Andrew's axe and when an opening presented itself, jabbed back with his dagger. After a few of these, Andrew jumped back to reassess the fight and look at his aura levels which to his surprise he hadn't taking that much damage.

 _You might be quick, but it'll take you all day to whittle me down._ Now that he knew his opponent wasn't capable of landing an affective blow he decided to change his tactic, he needed to stop Oliver from moving about so much and luckily, he had something that would do that nicely.

"Right, let's fight for real now." He called out to Oliver who raised his dagger.

"If you think you can."

As Smithe continued to swing his mighty hammer over and over causing immense damage to the long grass arena, Ulysses assessed his opponent. He knew that Smithe was strong but had no speed to land a blow on him for when he was using his enhanced E.X.O suit he was too fast for his opponent. After a decidedly powerful hit destroyed a part of the ground, debris flew up into the air and Ulysses rolled back to avoid any of it hitting him. He expected for the dirt and rocks to begin raining upon him but it never did so he stood up to see what had happened and saw an unusual sight as all of the debris was just floating in the air around Smithe

"That is fascinating. How are you doing that?"

"I'll tell you when you wake up." With that Smithe began hitting each rock in the air around him with his hammer sending them hurtling at Ulysses who used his buzz saw blades to obliterate each one as it came towards him. After a few of these Ulysses was feeling confident that he could maintain this defence but as he destroyed the last rock, Smithe came charging through the dust and smacked him with his hammer. The force of the impact knocked Ulysses clean off his feet causing him to roll backwards several times ending with him flat on his back. Happy with his attack Smithe smiled and rested his hammer over his shoulder

"Warned you little man." He then turned around and looked over to Oliver and Andrew who were still fighting, with a chuckle he started to march off. As he was about to say something he felt a force hit him in the back and fell with a hard thud to the ground with his chin taking an especially hard hit. He growled and rolled over to see what was going on, catching sight of Ulysses standing tall with a pulse cannon sitting on his shoulder.

"I would prefer you kept your attention on me for the time being."

"You'll regret that small fry!" And in a flash Smithe had pushed himself back to his feet, ready to resume his fight with Ulysses.

Meanwhile Andrew was putting his plan into action, he knew that he couldn't catch up with Oliver but he did know that if he could trap him then he could hit him. Andrew started his next series of attacks with his axe and just as he thought Oliver kept his distance and danced around him so he put up his barriers as a box around him. After one such attack Oliver tried to jump out of the way and crashed into an invisible wall, stunning him and allowing the time for Andrew to set up his comeback as he threw a punch into Oliver's gut and pushing him into the rear wall of his barrier box to increase the impact. He only held it for a second and then released it so that Oliver would stumble and fall to the ground.

"Son of a…" Oliver wheezed then flipped back to his feet and Andrew could tell he was trying to figure out what happened. Andrew went in for his next attack and once more Oliver tried his best to move around it but as he sidestepped he hit another barrier and fell forward right into an uppercut from Andrew. This time there was no barrier for him to crash into as he flew up into the air and back into geyser field.

"Right… whatever you're doing, it's getting old." Oliver was losing his smug tone and was quite clearly starting to become angry.

"Well stop bouncing around and I won't have to block you."

"Oh yeah just let you hit me, that's a sound strategy." Oliver span his dagger around just as one of the geysers erupted blocking him from view. As Andrew readied himself with his axe, Oliver burst through the mist and drew his arm back for an attack which Andrew started to prepare for. Suddenly the dagger extended into a long spear which Andrew wasn't ready for and the attack hit him in his left shoulder, sending a massive jolt of electricity into him causing him to cry out in pain.

"See, I've got some tricks up my sleeve too!" Andrew merely laughed back at him through his pain. "What? You find this funny?"

"Nah, I just forget that people don't know that me and pain are really close buddies." With Oliver standing over him he grabbed the spear and using a correctly placed barrier snap under his hands, created enough force to push the spear off him and force Oliver to fall backwards under the strength of the push. The snapping sound that was created by his barrier was very close to his ear and momentarily deafened him whilst also throwing out his equilibrium as he gingerly stood up and grabbed his axe from when it had fallen. Now both were back on their feet and giving each other a cautious look.

"Fine I think we've finished playing around now." Oliver checked his aura level briefly and then looked over to Smithe who was still having problems landing his hits. "I think it's time bro!" Suddenly Smithe stopped his attack and sighed.

"About time!" In a split second Smithe began glowing blue and at the same time Oliver started glowing yellow. After only a couple of seconds they then both turned green which only served in confusing Andrew into what was going on.

"Nice colour show? Can we get back to this match?" Oliver smiled

"Sure, it won't take much longer now." In his usual speedy moves, he was back in close range with Andrew who once again was just a little too slow to stop the first strike. Unfortunately, this was a costly mistake as the hit with the spear had immensely more power and force behind it, so much so that Andrew couldn't keep his stance and was flung several feet backwards. When he composed himself he shook his head in shock.

"That was different from before." As he wondered what was happening when the commentators answered his confused mind.

"And now the Miyazaki brothers are using their one of a kind joint semblance. Smithe's "Brothers Grace" and Oliver's "Brothers Might" which allows them to gain the others power. It really is something special and makes them formidable together."

"Great now he's as strong as Smithe as well as being fast." With a sigh he gripped his axe in one hand "Just when I thought this would be fun." Not willing to give up he ran back to Oliver knowing that his opponent now had the strength to inflict the damage he would need to win this fight. When the two locked weapons, Andrew tired to use his weight to break the deadlock but he underestimated how much stronger Oliver was now who simply smiled at his attempt.

"Aww, I'm not so easy now am I?"

"Still too talkative." Andrew then brought his knee up into Oliver's gut which broke the stalemate which almost saw Andrew collapse onto of him. Oliver stumbled backwards and used his spear to steady himself.

"That was a dirty move!"

"No such thing in a fight." Andrew tried once again to hit Oliver with a flurry of attacks and just as before none of them connected. After one swing, Oliver span around behind him and using his spear more like a bat struck him across his back sending him flying forward with a jolt of electricity shooting through his bones.

 _This just got a whole lot harder_

Andrew span around and raised his axe at a very unimpressed Oliver who smiled as he leaned on his spear. He thought about trying his barrier box again, but the extended reach of Oliver's weapon meant he wouldn't be able to get close enough and he doubted it would work again anyway. He took a deep breath and decided that he needed to end this quick. Using another barrier snap this time under his feet he leapt forward at a height Oliver wasn't expecting and landed his attack that hit Oliver's spear. Although with Oliver's enhanced strength he took the hit without budging, move his spear in a way that Andrew's axe slid to the ground under his weight and left him open. This was followed be Oliver spinning his spear several times and each spin connected with Andrew's head. Once he was finished he lined up a hit and charged his spear with electricity that then connected with Andrew's chest in a flash and crash that caused Andrew to hurtle into the ruins area, the impact was loud and the ruin he hit then collapsed on top of him.

"Got ya!" Oliver was pleased with his attack when he saw that Andrew wasn't coming out of the rubble and walked calmly over to Smithe.

"Looks like it just you now small fry. If you want to give up now before my brother gets here, then I'll accept your surrender." For a moment Ulysses paused and looked at where Andrew had landed, expecting him to emerge from the rubble but nothing happened so he turned back to Smithe and took a fighting stance.

"I will not surrender. Doing so would insult my team, my friends, who trusted me to win this for them." He wanted to go and see if Andrew was okay but knew that he would need to deal with both Smithe and Oliver before he could do that.

"You may look weak, but I can't fault your resolve. Unfortunately, I won't go easy on you, in fact now I think I'll be a bit tougher knowing you can take it." He grasped his hammer firmly in his hands just as Oliver had reached them.

"You got this one brother, or do you need a hand?" Oliver called out as Smithe grunted

"Just get him. We can't take any chances, watch out though he's a tricky git." Before Oliver could respond Ulysses fired a concentrated pulse from his cannon at him which pushed Oliver away. He stuck his spear into the ground to stop him from being flown away, while this was happening Smithe charged over to Ulysses and brought his hammer down on him. The impact sent Ulysses into the air even though it didn't hit him, and He finally figured out what was going on with Smithe's hammer.

"It has gravity defying dust crystals in it. That is impressive! I should do something like that with my suit!" Ulysses landed firmly on his feet and took an evaluation of his opponents; his aura was higher than theirs but combined he was fighting a fresh combatant again. He then looked at Andrew's aura level which was still in play, but he wasn't moving from the ruins he was buried in so could have been knocked unconscious.

"Wow, he's got some good tech in that thing." Oliver was getting himself ready to fight as Smithe pulled his hammer from the ground.

"Told you, don't underestimate him." The brothers then started to split up and walk each side of Ulysses and force him to fight on two sides. Ulysses already knowing this was their plan ran straight for Oliver with his buzz blades spinning, when he was close to Oliver he started his attack as Smithe charge for him again. Just as Ulysses began the fight he activated his pulse cannon again and kept it on Smithe who slowed to a crawl as he tried to reach them.

"You're bold, not even worried about taking both of us on?"

"I cannot be, I will not let them down. No matter what you do."

"Nice words. But unless words can win a fight they're meaningless." Oliver and Ulysses continued to brawl, and Oliver was amazed at how well Ulysses kept up with his speed and strength. He knew it all came from the suit, so it was a key strength of his but also a massive weakness for if it was shut down he could no longer fight. Oliver flipped back from the fight and used his spear to unleash an electrical blast at Ulysses, forcing him to move and disengage his cannon from Smithe. Ulysses did but then fired his pulse cannon at Oliver sending him into the air but as he did Smithe used his hammer to hit Ulysses, sending him over to the geyser fields. Once Ulysses was stable again he saw Smithe catch Oliver with one hand and then carry him on his shoulder as he walked over.

When they got close Oliver jumped over Ulysses as Smithe ran up to him to once again try to fight him on two sides so Ulysses tried to use the terrain to his advantage as he moved to keep a geyser between him and one of them at any time. He found Smithe to be more predictable as he always just swung his hammer with as much force as he could muster whereas Oliver appeared to think more in the fight. He figured all this out as he fought them, he got a few good hits on them but nothing to drastic as he didn't have time to focus on one for the other was then on top of him. As he moved around a geyser it went off and hid Smithe from him, so he aimed his attacks at Oliver, trying to get a hit off. However, Smithe now made use of the geyser by aiming the head of his hammer at it and activated the gravity dust, causing the geyser the turn at a right angle straight at Ulysses. The hot water fired at such a high pressure that Ulysses couldn't stop himself from being pushed back and take damage to his aura.

"Right. He is not just a brawler." He looked at his aura level and then Oliver's and Smithe's level, he had taken them both down considerably, but they had also been able to damage him in return.

"Ready to give in yet?" Smithe asked

"No."

"Have it your way then." Out of no where Oliver appeared in a flash and smashed Ulysses into Smithe who them hit him away into the middle of the arena. The hits knock his aura down dangerously low as he lay face down on the arena floor hoping he could still turn this around but as he pushed himself up he felt something strike him in the back. The noise of sparking electronics coming from behind him causes his body to turn cold as his suit quickly started to become unresponsive.

"Oh no! No I cannot let this…happen… Oh please just MOVE!" He barely got back on his knees when his suit fully shut down. He could just turn his head to see that Oliver's spear was sticking out of his backpack which served as his power pack. He tried his hardest to move but nothing would respond and if he deactivated his suit then he was out of the tournament, he simply couldn't let that happen but couldn't think of a way around it. In his panicked stated it took him a while to hear the footsteps behind him from Oliver and Smithe.

"I think that's the match small fry." Ulysses contained is frustration at his current situation.

"Sorry mate, you put up a real good fight but its over, just say you surrender because we really don't want to have to hurt you anymore." Oliver said as he pulled his spear from Ulysses back and walked around to face him with Smithe. Ulysses looked up at them and as his lip began to tremble he said.

"I will not surrender. I will not disgrace my team." Smithe chuckled

"If you weren't trembling so much I'd be impressed. Better luck next time pal" as Smithe lifted his hammer, Oliver raised his spear and Ulysses closed his eyes waiting for the attack to come but it didn't. He eventually opened his eyes to see that both were frozen in place and they looked just as surprised as he was.

"Ouch…" Andrew started to pick himself up and rubbed his face "That really hurt, hope I'm not out of this." Looking at his aura level showed he was still in this but if he took another hit like that then he wouldn't be, so he needed to watch his opponents more carefully. He didn't want to put everything on Ulysses to win the match, it wouldn't be fair seeing as they should be partners in this. Moving the rubble off him he stood up and twisted his neck, waiting for an audible crack that would ease his crooked neck after that last hit. When it did he smiled and rotated his shoulder a few times and felt ready for another go at Oliver but when he finally got around to surveying the battlefield he saw that both Oliver and Smithe had Ulysses on his knees.

"Don't you bloody dare!" He thought for a moment about putting a barrier round Ulysses but that wouldn't help when they would come for him, so he needed a better plan. He needed to think quickly but nothing was coming to mind, he wasn't about to let Ulysses get hurt because he got sucker punched. Suddenly they both raised their weapons and Andrew froze, without thinking he sent out a barrier but not around Ulysses, around Smithe and Oliver.

He outstretched both his arms and encased each of them in a separate barrier that they couldn't move in, effectively turning them into statues. Even as he did this he knew that creating two barriers at the same time wasn't something he should do but there was no way to encase them both in one single barrier and not catch Ulysses in the middle. As he did this he immediately felt pain start to travel up his arms from his hands, it was like a severe burning sensation that only got more intense the longer his held both barriers up. As quickly as he could he picked them both up and brought them up to him in the ruins, their faces frozen in shock trying to comprehend what was happening. When they were in front of him, Andrew took a deep breath to try and take his mind off the pain.

"No one picks on my best friend, got it. NO ONE!" he threw then both away from him at speed and remove the barriers from them, only then noting that his arms were steaming from under his armour. Smithe landed with a crash into the centre of the arena while Oliver flew further away into the mountain zone, hitting the mountain head on. Andrew then started to charge up his axe with as much of his barrier power as he could muster and leapt from the ruins, he rolled on impact with the ground and when ready he unleashed his barrier slash at Smithe who took it full force causing him to yell on impact as it took him along for a ride towards Oliver. Oliver had got himself out of the mountain and had just turned back to face the battle while he wobbled on his feet, still trying to figure out what had happened when he notice Smithe scream as he hurtled towards him. Oliver was about to move but was not as stable on his feet and lost his balance, the next thing he knew Smithe had crashed into him and then the pair of them carried on into the mountain. The impact from the attack destroyed a sizeable part of the mountain and embedded both of them into the rock with Oliver being crushed between Smithe and the rocks. This made the mountain unstable and the whole thing started to crumble around them and Andrew watched as their aura levels depleted into almost nothing to which he sighed with relief.

"That was close." He said as he looked at his arms, steam still emanating from them and the pain they were causing him was excruciating but he didn't cry out, merely made a face showing his discomfort.

"Andrew that was amazing! Thank you for your assistance!" Ulysses had deactivated his suit and had come running up to him but only when he was close enough to him did he notice something wrong. "Andrew are you okay?" Andrew gave a shaken breath before he spoke

"I need to get my armour off." He said in a voice that was trying to be calm while hiding his agony. Ulysses moved over to him and went to remove his armour when he saw the steam coming from his forearms.

"Andrew!"

"I know, just help me take them off." Ulysses quickly unbuckled Andrew's gantlets and when he had done it, Andrew let his arms drop causing the armour to slide off. His arms were still covered in his black under shirt, but it looked damp although his hands were more troubling as they appeared to have been scalded. They were red and wet with small areas of skin already peeling away leaving behind the raw wounds open to the air, there were also blotches of brown were the affects were even more intense.

"What have you done to yourself?!"

"Just being reckless…" Andrew tried to joke unconvincingly "I think I need to get to the nurse's station." Ulysses nodded frantically

"You certainly do! Come on, this way!" and Ulysses led Andrew away from the arena, from all the cries of the audience and the commentators end of match round up. All this noise passed Andrew by as the pain from his arms was so bad that he feared if he didn't force himself to keep moving, he could have passed out then and there.

"Chris is going to be livid with me…" he said under his breath as he knew the worst was yet to come.


	39. I will not Break

"This REALLY hurts." Andrew was sitting in the nurse's station that was situated within the arena for first aid needs. The nurse had already seen him and applied topical cream to his scalded forearms and hands then covered them in bandages, it hadn't taken her very long to do this but the fact he was in a lot of pain made it feel like it took much longer. All he was doing now was staring at his hands while he remembered the last time he tried this stunt, he smirked at himself as he wasn't so foolish to do so much at once last time but had caused a few burns on his body. As he sat there, he was disturbed by the sudden appearance of his fellow team mates that spilled into the room with Chris barging in first.

"What happened to you?! Are you alright?"

"Ulysses came and got us as soon as he dropped you off here! Are you hurt?" Chris and Lauren both sounded concerned as they look at Andrew who simply smiled back and slowly held up his arms which made them both gasped.

"Holy shit! What happen to your arms?" After a few seconds Andrew sighed and put his arms back down.

"I did what I needed to do to win the match and protect Ulysses." Chris changed to an unamused face.

"Which was?" Andrew glanced at him then looked away under his gaze.

"I used two barriers at once."

"And why's that bad?" Lauren asked

"Because it does this." Andrew nodded at his arms when he spoke.

"Sorry but we can't see through bandages, so you might have to elaborate." Before Andrew could answer Chris', question Ulysses spoke up from the back of the group.

"His arms have been scalded, severely." Both Chris and Lauren looked at Ulysses then quickly turned back to Andrew.

"What? How?!"

"As I said, I used two barriers at once."

"I got that but how did that cause this?! I always thought one barrier was your limit not that making more would destroy your body!"

"Does it really matter why it happened?" This time it was Lauren who answered

"It certainly does! If we're supposed to be a team then we need to know these things, can't have problems like this happening out on a mission that could be easily avoided if you just told us what would happen!"

Andrew looked at each one of his team mates in turn and then made an angry growl before finally answering.

"Fine. My barriers take my protective aura from my body and project it out as you know, but it is still attached to me and the process can be a little violent. This is amplified when I create more than one as the force of pulling my aura out of me increases and this causes a build-up in heat." He looked at his hands and tried to clench his fists only for him to fail due to the pain he was feeling. "The more I make and the bigger the barriers are, the worse the side effects so as you can see the heat caused by it scalded my arms and hands. To be honest if I hadn't stopped when I did then it could have reach right up to my shoulders so there is a plus."

"A plus!" Chris bellowed which got all of their attention "You seriously damaged your body for a stupid win in a tournament!"

"Aren't you the one who wanted us to win this?" Andrew asked

"Not at the expense of my friend's health! What were you thinking?!" Andrew looked at Ulysses

"That I didn't want my friend to get the crap beaten out of him."

"It was a tournament match, they wouldn't have done anything more than take his aura down. It's a friendly match so there was no need for you to go over the top."

"Well I guess I'm sorry then that I was looking out for my team mate." The tone Andrew used made Chris lash out.

"Don't try and turn this around! He wasn't in any real danger and you should have known it, all you've done is make yourself worse for no reason!" The four of them remained silent for a while until Chris turned to Ulysses "How damaged is your gear?" Ulysses was startled by the sudden question and took a deep breath before replying.

"Well, it is quite extensively damaged and will require some time to fix it but until I have looked at it properly, I cannot give you an answer."

"Then estimate, how long?" Ulysses stuttered for a few seconds and said

"I cannot really say, I need know what is damaged an if there are parts to…

"How long?" this time Chris made it clear he wanted a straight answer and Ulysses panicked

"A week, at the very least." Chris made a much louder sigh and looked down at the floor for a second then looked back up.

"We're pulling out of the tournament." This made Andrew jump from his seat.

"What?!"

"You heard! We're withdrawing. You're injured, and Ulysses hasn't got any gear to fight with so we can't go into the finals in that state."

"I can fight no problem!"

"No you can't!"

"I've been in more pain that this before and still fought so…"

"AND YOU THINK THAT'S OKAY!?" The sudden outburst from Chris made all three of them jump and silence filled the room afterwards. After a while Chris spoke in a lowered voice "Can you stop acting like a guy trying to prove himself and more like a student at Beacon. Just because you can fight like that doesn't mean it's right and it certainly isn't what we want you to do." Andrew paused as Ulysses spoke up

"Please Andrew, stay out of the tournament. It will not do you any good continuing in your current state."

"We can't just give up. Not after getting this far! It'll make everything we've accomplished so far for nothing if we pull out now!"

"So what? We'll get another chance at this when the tournament comes around again and we can try and win next time." Chris words made sense but to Andrew, he simply couldn't back down from this.

"Or we can win it now. Just let me do this!"

"No! I as team leader can't send someone from my team who is injured into an avoidable fight or send them in with broken equipment. It's not happening!" A cough emanated from the side of the room as Lauren stepped forward.

"Personally, I say we let him do it." The three of them looked over to Lauren with a mixture of surprise and shock. "What? Either we pull out and have to put up with grumpy bum for the next couple of weeks or even months, OR we let him do it and when he loses the first match then at least he can say he tried… and failed."

"See! She gets it and she's an idiot! Just let me try!"

"It's not about letting you try, I don't want you getting even more injured than you already are because of your stubborn pride. It's not worth it." Andrew sighed

"Look, the finals next week right?"

"It starts on Monday so four days' time." Ulysses said as Andrew pointed to him when he finished speaking.

"Four days, hopefully by then I won't be in as much pain and I can fight without too much trouble."

"People don't heal that fast from scalded arms, especially ones as bad as yours. You won't be anywhere near ready."

"I'll be good enough and if I'm lucky then I might not get called up for a few days and that'll just give me more time to heal."

"Knowing your luck, you'll be in the first fight."

"If I am then I am." Chris covered his face with his hand "Come on, I can do this. At least let me try." A sigh came from Chris

"I really don't like this, but I guess I have no choice as you won't ever let this drop. However, if you get into the fight and you are in too much pain to fight then I want you to throw in the towel and I want you to promise me that." He stretched out his hand to shake Andrew's then immediately retracted it when he saw his hand. Andrew instead put his hand on his heart

"I promise, if it gets too much then I'll give up but I'm not going out without at least trying." Chris scoffed

"I guess that will have to do. This is all moot point though because if the officials decide you can't fight then there's nothing I can do to change that."

"Then I'll see them now and prove I can do this." Chris let out an annoyed breath and left the room, muttering to himself that it wouldn't be his fault if Andrew loses his arms and maybe it'll teach him a lesson.

"You sure pissed him off." Lauren said as she folded her arms

"He'll get over it."

"Will you though?" Andrew once again looked at his hands. "Well, you know your own body better than I do so go get it torn up for all I care." She then followed her leader out of the room

"Aww. Thanks Lauren, I hate you too." Lauren flipped him the finger as she left and Andrew smiled as he couldn't return the favour in his current predicament. Instead he looked over to Ulysses who didn't look to be in the best of moods as he started walking away.

"What's wrong Ulysses?" he asked as his friend stood in the doorway, unmoving for several seconds.

"Why do you do this?"

"What?"

"Protect me. It is because I am weak is it not, because I should not be here." Andrew could tell he was close to tears and walked over to him and turned him around.

"You are not weak, not in the slightest." His words didn't seem to get through, so he then said "I was out of the match, if Oliver had come to finish me off instead of coming after you then I wouldn't have been able to fight back. He chose to fight you with Smithe and not only did you fight them both at the same time, you fought them showing incredible courage and strength. If you hadn't been able to fight them for as long as you did then I wouldn't have got back up in time to help."

"You still had to save me in the end."

"It's called looking out for your friends. You protected me and I protected you, it's a two way street."

"I do not protect you, I never have." Andrew put his hand on Ulysses shoulder

"But you did, back at the start of last year. If you hadn't stuck by me then I'm sure I would have still been that miserable hard ass everyone hated. You protected me from myself so in my mind, I still have to pay you back for that."

"You really think that?"

"Yeah, of course I do. You're my best friend Ulysses so no matter what I'm always going to be there for you as you are always there for me." Ulysses wiped his eyes with his sleeve and a smile appeared when he was done.

"Right!"

"That's the spirit, come with me. I need to talk to the tournament officials and convince them I can fight. You might be able to convince them better than I can." The pair of them left the first aid station and headed for the official's offices. They were there for some time but after some conditions that Andrew had to agree to like not putting any blame on them or his opponents if they made his injuries any worse did they then allow him to go through to the finals.

For the next few days he had to go and see the doctors twice a day to treat his arms and change his bandages to make sure that he was as fit as he could be for the finals. After his first morning visit thought he decided to meet up with Carissa as he hadn't told her what had happened so thought she should know. When they met up it was in her temporary dorm room after she had returned from watching the final match of the doubles round. When she saw him enter her room, she immediately noticed his hands

"What have you done now?" Andrew sighed while he sat down next to her and he felt Carissa hold one of his hands gently in hers.

"Being reckless, you know like normal." He smiled to try and reassure her which only served in making her shake her head.

"One day you'll go one step to far and do something you can't come back from." Andrew laughed

"No doubt! But as long as you are with me, I know I'll be fine in the end. But if I end up as a brain in a jar then I won't blame you for wanting to be with someone else, I know you prefer my body to my mind." She squeezed his hand only slightly and a small surge of pain went up his arm and he pulled his hand away with an "Ouch!"

"Not funny. I'd prefer that you just didn't do that at all. I don't want to lose you." Andrew looked in her eyes and felt what was like a punch to his gut and he faltered.

"Erm... well… you know I was only joking. Right? I mean… it's not like I'm going to be that careless."

"Then you need to work on your jokes because that wasn't as funny as you thought it was."

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to upset you. I was just making light of this." He then caressed her face with his bandaged hand. "I don't want to lose you either, I can't imagine my life without you now." The smile that grew on her face caused Andrew to do the same and they embraced in a hug.

"You get that line from Qrow?" she asked him

"No, it's all my own. Hay! Are you saying I'm not good enough to come up with my own lines?" She laughed and broke the hug.

"Not without rehearsing them first." Andrew was going to argue but instead shrugged his shoulders in a way to joke that it was true which made her laugh again. "See that's you being funny." She then looked at his hands again. "You're going into the finals aren't you?" He hesitated for a second then nodded. "You sure that you should still be in the tournament?" Andrew looked at his hands and sighed.

"Yeah. I have to do this, although not having my semblance will be tough."

"Why can't you use it?" Andrew then explained what had happened in the match that took place the previous day and what it had done to him and Carissa shook her head with a slight smile.

"What?" he asked her

"I just thought, some people say that when someone unlocks their semblance that it reflects them in some way and yours certainly does that."

"Really? How?"

"You'll protect anyone you care about even if it means putting yourself in harm's way." Andrew pondered this for a few moments then nodded.

"I suppose but does that mean your semblance shows that you can talk to anyone?" Carissa shook her head.

"No I think it's the exact opposite which is way I needed it." Andrew didn't want to upset her so shifted the conversation to something else.

"So, your team got through too. Who's going into the finals?"

"Ethan." That was not the name he wanted to hear.

"Oh crap." Carissa laughed

"Don't worry, I'll tell him to go easy on you." After this they talked about things that didn't really matter, they were just happy to be together.

A few days later it was the first day of the finals and Andrew was waiting for the announcement that they could all enter the arena but as he did, he saw Ethan coming towards him.

"Hay! You ready to go!" Ethan was his normal energetic self, wearing his leather combat armour that had his symbol emblazoned over the torso which was the side view of a Boar with great tusks. Andrew scoffed as he answered

"As ready as I can be, still nervous as hell though."

"You'll do fine!" Andrew then felt a very heavy and hard pat across his back, looking at Ethan when he was standing next time him, he realised why. Ethan was wearing his weapons which took the form of two enormous mechanical hands that were at least three times bigger than his normal hands. They were coloured bronze and extended almost to his elbow, the size of them combined with the weight was something to be concerned about as Andrew couldn't even lift one with all his strength but Ethan wielded the two like they were normal boxing gloves. At long last the announcement came and all the combatants walked out onto the arena floor and waited patiently for the randomisation process to select the first two to fight. When they were chosen Andrew was relieved that he wasn't one of them as even though he wasn't in as much pain as he had been, he still didn't feel up to fighting today. The ones chosen were Ethan who was cheering with pride and a young girl from Atlas called Sari Neith from team SPHR (Sapphire).

Andrew had seen her team fight before in the tournament, they were all girls and because they were from Atlas, they all stuck to the regimented uniform except that Sari wore a skirt instead of combat trousers which Andrew found odd in this climate. Her hair was cut in a short bob and shone yellow, her face was also very attractive with her bright brown eyes standing out and if he didn't been someone much better then Andrew might have thought about asking her out. Also compared to Ethan she was tiny but with Ethan being large by most standards nearly everyone looked small next to him however what didn't look small were her weapons. On her back were two crossed mini chainsaws that had been spliced with shotguns and from what Andrew could remember of her fighting style before, she was one of the deadliest people in close range in the whole tournament.

Watching the fight from the stands, Andrew couldn't help but think he was watching a lion try to catch a mouse as Ethan's heavy and large metallic fists flailed wildly at Sari without even coming close to hitting her. Meanwhile she wasn't even getting anywhere near Ethan because the second she did she would have been crushed under his fist, so it became a game of chase with Andrew cheering for Ethan. After several minutes of this and a few scratches dealt to both sides, Andrew saw something that puzzled him as Jessica did a flip to avoid Ethan's attack and as he went to attack again, he froze. For too long he seemed to be stuck in the same position and couldn't move which gave her all the time she needed to attack in which she unleashed a series of devastating blows that destroyed Ethan's aura and before he could respond took him out of the fight.

This had taken one of the two teams from Beacon out of the final and given Atlas an edge, making Andrew feel incredibly nervous as he now had the whole weight of Beacon and Vale on his shoulders.

"Crap." He whispered under his breath with a bead of cold sweat running down the side of his face as he watched Ethan leave the arena and Sari take in the applause with multiple bows. When he caught up to Ethan, he asked him what happened with a reply that was a very quick.

"Nothing!" And Ethan's face quickly turned red forcing him to leave as quickly as he could.

"Great, whatever got him could get me too. Now I'm really worried." The next day of the finals saw another two combatants fight giving Andrew another day to rest his arms so this time he left the arena and relaxed but in his room. On the third day his luck ran out as he was selected to fight but on hearing who his opponent would be, he suddenly started smiling as Constantine Domius stood from team COIN in front of him, looking rather disgusted.

"Oh it's you… the Faunus lover." Andrew smiled

"That's me, you to have a problem with that?"

"I should say so! It's just not right! Are you sure you're human under all that armour?" Andrew chuckled

"Unfortunately I think so."

"Well I never! How can you say such a thing?"

"Because that means that in some way I'm related to you and that makes me want to hurl." Constantine shivered and readied his weapon that looked to be a cane with a Grimm Beowolf head as its pommel. Andrew had seen Constantine fight before and knew that the cane house a sword which could be heated to incredible temperatures, but he'd already thought of a way around it. As the countdown started, Constantine took a fencing position while Andrew stood like he was waiting in line for a train not even drawing his axe. When the match began his opponent wasted no time in closing the gap between them and when he was close, Andrew swung at him with a half-hearted punch. Constantine avoided and smiled as the punch flew past him.

"Ha! You'll never beat me with that level of attack, honestly how did you even get this far." Andrew swung again and this time Constantine activated his semblance that he'd called "Flowing Form." It was as if he'd become water and moved around his punch at an angle that would be impossible for human bone structure to perform.

"Ha! Another miss! Allow me to put you out of your misery." Constantine lunged with his sword and this was when Andrew started the fight seriously. He blocked the blade with his metal vambrace, knocking it away and in a quick movement he span his hand around to grab Constantine's arm. With a tight grip which from his opponents face was completely unexpected, Andrew punched him right in his nose with a great deal of force. When he did this, he also let go of Constantine's arm, so he fell back and almost fell on his ass.

"You barbarian!" he shouted as he rubbed his nose. "You'll pay for that!"

"Sorry. I'm guessing that's the first time you've really been hit. Hurts doesn't it?" Constantine yelled and ran back over to Andrew who stood his ground and once again sent out a punch that was easily avoided. From the opening, Constantine thrust his sword at Andrew who moved to avoid it and once again grabbed Constantine's arm. This time however he unleashed a headbutt without letting him go and punched him in the gut and only after that did he release Constantine who retreated back with a stumble.

"I got you pegged. You use your semblance to avoid an attack and then attack yourself in the opening that was made. This would work on anyone who didn't know how you fought but me, I watched your fights and paid close attention to you. Sorry to say you can't beat me."

"Silence! You feeble plebe, you are nothing but a traitor to your species!" Andrew laughed again

"Why because I choose to see similarities rather than difference's? If that's the case then I'll wear that name with pride." Constantine charged at Andrew screaming and slicing as quickly as he could with his blade. He was not as composed as he was at the start of the fight, so Andrew managed to avoid and block his lunges until he attacked once more causing Constantine to use his semblance again. Now he was pretty much untouchable and knew it.

"You can try all you like but you'll never hit me." Andrew stopped his attack for a moment and Constantine move to strike at his chest. Unfortunately for Constantine, Andrew planned this as he knocked his weapon out of his grasp and grabbed his arm at the same time as he delivered an uppercut that sent him into the air and back to the ground with a thud.

"That's true when I'm not touching you but if I can grab you before you activated it then it doesn't work. You have to be solid to attack or it won't work does it? This means that as long as I can block you, I can grab you and counter. As I said, I got you pegged." Constantine sat up with a face filled with rage and then scuttled over to his weapon but as he was about to reach it Andrew appeared and kicked it away. Before Constantine knew what was going on Andrew picked him up by his Atlas uniform,

"Now, say you're sorry."

"Excuse me!?"

"Apologise for what you said about Carissa at the dance." After a moment he realised who he meant

"Your pet? The one who you danced with!? Never!" Andrew shrugged

"Guess I was asking too much. Well maybe you'll change your mind when you wake up." Andrew then spun Constantine around and got him into a head lock which he tightened. As Constantine struggled to pull Andrews arms away, he slowly started to lose consciousness until he became limp in Andrew's arms. Andrew then set him down gently on the floor as the commentators announced his victory.

The next day saw the final two combatants fight which again Andrew didn't watch as after his fight with Constantine, his arms were in pain again. It was not as bad as before, but the added activity made them very sore, so he once again rested them in preparation for his next fight.

The following day, the fight was for Andrew again and was a little bit more of a challenge as he was selected to fight against Ethan's opponent, Sari. The fight itself was difficult and without his semblance he had to be even more careful in avoiding her dual chainsaws and when she used her built in shotguns, he took a few good hits. However, as the fight went on he found out why Ethan had all of a sudden lost his fight against her when she back flipped away from him and he saw something that he really shouldn't have done.

 _That's a dirty tactic_ he thought as he remembered Ethan's face which suddenly made complete sense to him and tried to continue the fight without thinking anymore about it. The fight could have gone either way but during a clash of weapons, Andrew's axe caught one of the chains on her weapon and caused it to snap clean through. The force of which the chainsaw was revving made the chain fly out and back at her with an almighty sound like a metallic whip as it struck her in her forehead. Luckily her aura was still strong enough to take the damage but the force of the impact was enough to knock her unconscious instantly and leave a nasty looking mark where it had hit her.

Due to her being knocked out he automatically won the match, but he wasn't concerned about that and instead wanted to make sure Sari was okay, so he quickly picked her up and left the ring to find medical help. She was taken to the Atlas hospital for close examination, but no long-term damage was found and they were merely waiting for her to come round which she did the following morning. Andrew went to see her to offer his apologies for putting her there to which she waved it off.

"Don't worry, it was just luck. If that hadn't have happened, then I would have won easily." Andrew laughed.

"Sure, keep telling yourself that."

"How about a rematch then sometime to determine the real winner?"

"Anytime. However, can I ask you one thing?" She tilted her head and Andrew leaned in to whisper in her ear "Can you put some underwear on next time, it's kind of distracting." She laughed

"It's a fair tactic, worked on you buddy before." Andrew sighed and left the conversation at that. After the next fight was over, the final was the following day and Andrew couldn't wait for it to be done. Many people started to come up to him around the festival grounds from the academies and just people who had come to watch the tournament, all which Andrew tried to be as courteous as possible to while he looked for any way to escape. The day when the final began, he waited for his que to enter the arena and hoped that he could do his school proud.

"Here it is ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for! The final of the Vytal Festival Tournament so let's bring out the finalists! First is the combatant from Beacon, Andrew Tinman from team CULA!" Andrew walked out onto the arena floor and couldn't even hear his own footsteps over the roar from the crowd. _Please let this be over quickly_. He wasn't one for being the centre of attention so with this many people he just didn't feel like himself but more like a performer on stage. When he reached the middle of the arena he stopped and looked around, hoping he could see his friends, but it was useless in such a mess of people.

"And the other finalist from Shade we have Odysseus Whitetip from team OCEN! (Ocean)" Andrew looked over to the other entrance and saw his opponent who received just as much cheering as he just had. Andrew had not seen much of team OCEN in the tournament so seeing Odysseus was a surprise. The young man before him was well built with pale skin and without any clothing on above his waist Andrew could also see a large red swirling tattoo across his left side of his torso that led to his shoulder. On his arms he seemed to have a light metal frame which didn't cover his arms entirely but couldn't have been considered armour which made Andrew wonder what their purpose was. He was wearing simple, ragged trousers coloured brown with metal greaves over his shins that looked rusted and opened toe sandals. His head looked bold, but it must have been shaved because Andrew refused to believe that he was naturally bold at his age, but this wasn't the main focus of his attention right now. Odysseus was wearing a mask over his mouth and nose that reached around his ears leaving his eyes uncovered, the mask was a similar rusted metal as his greaves but with some venting over his mouth piece. Andrew couldn't see through it and thought that this was intentional as his opponent came to a stop next to him, now he was close enough Andrew tried to see his weapons that were hanging from his back which took the form of two short curved swords with ringlets at the end of their pommels. As Andrew looked over himself, he felt quite inadequate next to his opponent and as his mind began to rush with any kind of plan to defeat him as the announcers continued.

"Both of these students have reached this point, both have proven that they are skilled and strong, but which one will win the coveted title and win prestige for their school and Kingdom? Well there's only one way to find out, contestants take your places." Before they moved, Andrew sighed and said to Odysseus`

"Good luck." To which he heard

"Yeah, you too." The words felt hollow, especially coming through his mask which reverberated them into something that sounded like it can from the depths of hell. After they were both in position the countdown started and unlike his fight against Constantine, he readied his axe and took a low strong stance to brace for whatever would come his way.

"5… 4… 3… 2… 1… BEGIN!" with that said, Andrew lost his footing as one of Odysseus' swords struck him in the chest and he hit the floor hard.

"What the hell was that!" Andrew pulled himself up and saw that Odysseus was holding both his swords. "Am I seeing things." Andrew started to pull himself up but felt a second hit in his shoulder, sending him spinning but he held his feet while looking back at his opponent. When he saw that he was standing perfectly still but with one of his swords flying through the air, he noticed the thin chain attached to it that were being fed by the harness on his back and controlled by the contraptions on his arms. _That's it, he's a long-range close quarters fighter!_

This was not what he wanted to face as he could only fight up close without his semblance and Odysseus could keep him at distance without breaking a sweat. Before Andrew could come up with a strategy, he noticed the second blade coming back at him and he just about knocked it away with his axe only for the first one to slash him across his chest. He tried to grab the sword but missed as it was retracted to quickly for him and the other one can hurtling towards him now, so he moved to avoid it and slashed with his axe, hitting the chain rather than the sword. Before he could get another strike in, the sword was pulled away leaving Andrew open for the other sword to strike him which it did with a mighty blow. Just before it was retracted though Andrew swiped at it with his axe and again caught the chain. After several of these exchanges Andrew was starting to become worried as he had no way of closing the distance meaning that Odysseus was controlling the fight which he couldn't allow.

He took a chance and moved forward which almost cost him the fight and the swords became a whirlwind and sent him flying towards the edge of the arena. He only stopped himself from falling out by slamming his axe into the floor and holding on with all his strength, even with his hands still hurting from his previous injuries. He pulled himself up quickly and just in time as the swords started slicing at the area he was climbing up from so he did all he could to fend them off and once he was up, he used his axe to block them again. During this exchange he saw something that might prove useful as he pinned one sword in place, he noticed that there was now a large amount of chips in the chains connecting the swords to Odysseus, some substantial. Before he could check further the other sword knocked him away so while he had a break, he looked at his aura level which was very low and Odysseus hadn't even taken a hit yet. Quickly he assessed his options and came up with a plan that was risky but could just even the fight.

"Okay, if I'm going to win this then I'm going to have to take one more hit." He said under his breath and readied himself for a final all-or-nothing move. He gripped his axe and charged head long at Odysseus who didn't move from his spot and sent his swords out flying at Andrew. He dodged many of the attacks and tried to move in a manner that made him difficult to predict which started to work as he was now nearly halfway to Odysseus. This was the point though that Odysseus sprang his trap, in a wide arc he sent his swords out as far as he could and then swiped them across the arena and with no way to avoid them Andrew got caught between them as they rapped around him. They circled him several times each until he was tied up in the middle of the arena, unable to move and the blades themselves ended up embedded in the ground, so he could move away.

"Finally caught you." Odysseus called out and Andrew started to furiously thrash in an attempt to break free of these chains. Before he had been caught though he'd dropped his axe and crossed his arms over his chest to try and stop Odysseus from constricting him as easily, but it was also for another purpose. The constant thrashing made Odysseus tighten his chains, but Andrew continued to use all his strength to break free. Because Odysseus had pinned his swords into the ground he could only tighten the chains by moving closer to Andrew so as he had to draw the chains into his harness. Andrew could feel the chain's squeezing him so he pushed back as much as he could until he saw what he hoped would be there, that some of the links where the gashes he'd created when he struck them with his axe were now starting to break. He waited for Odysseus to get closer to him so allowed himself to look like he was about ready to give in and only when he was standing a few feet away did Andrew use all his strength to snap the chains.

At first only a few broke but with each one that broke it put more strain of the others to contain him and before long they all began breaking one after another. Suddenly he broke free of the chains, to Odysseus' shock, and grabbed the ends that were still attached to Odysseus so that he could pull him in closer. Odysseus had locked his chains up so that Andrew couldn't move and remain trapped but now it meant that he could be pulled right into Andrew's reach. The force of the pull sent him flying into Andrew with no way to stop himself except when he felt something slam into his throat in the form of Andrew's arm. This hit only stopped his head however as his body still tried to move forward putting him in an almost opposite position he was originally flying in. Odysseus was then slammed into the ground and lay there for a few seconds while he figured out what was going on just as Andrew stretched his arms after his last move. Once Odysseus got back on his feet as they measured each other up and both raised fists to which Odysseus said

"Okay, mental note. Get stronger chains but I can do that later, first I'll beat you for pulling that move."

"Your welcome to try." Andrew replied, and Odysseus didn't wait a second longer as he ran in to begin a dynamic fist fight. It was brutal, especially for Andrew's injuries, however Odysseus proved not to be as efficient in hand to hand combat. He knew enough to fight well but Andrew had fought even harder against tougher people in the fighting pit back home, using his larger experience to his advantage. Ducking a very nasty punch from Odysseus he followed up with an uppercut that caught him completely off guard and threw him up in the air. Before he was out of range, Andrew grabbed his ankles and pulled him back into the ground with such force he dented the floor and forced him back to his feet. He was so dazed by this that he hadn't noticed that Andrew wasn't in front of him anymore and instead behind him, delivering an swift powerful elbow to the back of his head, sending him back into the ground but in the opposite direction. Not letting him get an advantage, Andrew dropped his elbow into Odysseus' back with all his weight behind it which caused Odysseus to groan in pain. Andrew picked himself up and watched his Odysseus was still stunned as to what had happened so as he started to get up, Andrew grabbed him round his chest, forced him into the air and then back onto the ground which made the arena floor exploded as a crater formed around Odysseus. Still Odysseus wouldn't give up so as he wobbly got to his feet Andrew ran full speed at Odysseus and punch him as hard as he could, gritting his teeth through the pain, and caused him to hurtle across the arena in one final move that took his aura just below the tournament loss mark.

"That's it! People of Remnant, Andrew Tinman has just won the Vytal Festival Tournament through aura knockout! What a match and what a victory for Beacon and Vale! Ladies and Gentlemen, the champion!" The words and the cheers hardly even registered in Andrew's head as slumped forward.

"We did it guys." He wheezed and began walking over to Odysseus, picking up his axe from where it had fallen and putting it back in its holster on his back. When he reached Odysseus, he stretched out a hand to help him up off the floor and said

"Well fought, that was a good match." Looking up at him, Andrew wasn't sure if Odysseus would take his hand but to his surprise he did and Andrew help pull him to his feet.

"Yeah, it sure was." The voice through the mask still sounded evil but Andrew was sure that he meant no ill will to him.

"Sorry about breaking your chains."

"Ah, don't worry about it. Happens more than you think." With a sigh Odysseus looked around the stadium. "Looks like you got quite an audience."

"I didn't do it for them, I just wanted to win this for my team. They deserve this, not me."

"That's… not what I was expecting from you." Andrew smiled

"I'm guessing you thought I was more of a thug."

"No, just most people win this for selfish reasons and I thought you were the same."

"Then why did you want to win this?" Odysseus looked back at Andrew then towards the floor.

"I wanted to see the Atlas officials faces when the named me champion." Before Andrew could ask why, Odysseus removed his mask and smiled a toothy grin. He was greeted with two sets of pointed sharp teeth that would be more at home in the mouth of a shark.

"Oh I didn't know you were a Faunus." The reaction Odysseus received was different than he normally got as Andrew sounded more normal than frightened.

"Yeah I am… so you're not freaked out by this?" he said while pointing at his mouth and Andrew shrugged

"No. Why should I be?"

"Because well… Most people are."

"To be honest I think the old me might have been, but I've had my eyes opened in the last year or so and now all I see is a fellow huntsman in training." After a moment he added "Also my girlfriend is a Faunus so I can say there really is no difference between us as species." Odysseus looked at him in genuine surprise with a startled grin.

"Ah, I remember you now. The dance before the festival, right? You caused that scene, so it wasn't just a show."

"Nope." He smiled and reached out with his hand to Odysseus "Nice to meet you Odysseus, I'm Andrew." Odysseus's grin turned into a chuckle and he took the offered hand.

"And you." The pair allowed the hand shake to continue for a few seconds

"I'm sorry I screwed that match up for you, if I'd known then I would…"

"You won, and you treated me better than anybody else even after seeing my face so if there was anyone I could have lost to then I'm glad it was you." then they suddenly heard a few people running over to them. "That your team?" Odysseus asked causing Andrew to turn around and nodded when he heard Lauren's cheering.

"That's them." He turned back "You want to meet them?" Odysseus shook his head

"Not right now, this is your victory so you enjoy it." He then went to leave so Andrew called out

"You want to meet up tomorrow before we all leave. It would be great to chat without trying to beat the crap out of each other." Odysseus laughed as he walked away rubbing his shoulder but turned around briefly and said

"Sure, we'll meet you in the festival grounds around the ramen stand. Noon?" Andrew nodded

"Meet you there." And with a wave Odysseus left the arena. Andrew was till watching him when he was almost knocked to the ground as Ulysses tackled him with a hug.

"I knew you would win! I knew it!"

"Easy Ulysses, I bet that stunt he pulled hurt him in some way." Chris was smiling with no real venom behind his words.

"Just a scratch. No problem." This comment from Andrew made Lauren laugh

"Only a scratch! Damn I was hoping you would be must worse off than that!"

"Well now I've got a splitting headache, but I can get rid of that when you've pissed off."

"Can you two for once be civilised! Andrew has just won the Vytal Festival Tournament!" Ulysses grabbed Andrew's hand and raised his arm up with a cheer "The Champion!" which made Andrew wince at the pain. Before he could speak, they saw a herd of reports come charging towards them and Andrew wished he could run for it but was trapped by Lauren

"Here he is folks! Beacon's champion! He's been waiting for you, he loves all this attention!" Andrew covered his face with his hands and let out a deep breath as Lauren looked at him. "Don't say anything you'll regret, it will be seen all over the world."

"Thanks…" he replied followed by "I'll get you for this." A bit quieter than normal as he didn't want the reporters hearing that bit, but Lauren laughed as she waved them over. In a flash, the mob of people had swarmed over him and he could hardly make out anything they were saying. He looked like a deer caught in headlights as the cameras continued to flash.

"How do you feel about winning the tournament?"

"Do you think your parents are proud of you?"

"Is there anyone you would like to thank for getting you here?" These were only a few of the questions he could discern.

"Erm… well… I don't really think… can you all…" he was really starting to feel queasy as the crowd of people started to grow. With a deep breath he finally said, "I don't deserve this victory." This made them all pause.

"Why would you say that?"

"Because it wasn't me who won this, it was team CULA who won this and without all of them I wouldn't have reached this point. They are the true winners, they are the best team anyone could ask for." He then looked over to Chris, Lauren and Ulysses "And there they are!" with that said the reports turned their attention to them. Chris and Ulysses looked shocked, but Lauren had the biggest smile on her face.

"It's all true, he's nothing without us. Bit of a simpleton really if you ask me!" Chris elbowed her in the side.

"What my team mate means is that this was a team effort, but Andrew carried us to the finish line. We're all very proud of him." Chris was born for this, he could keep his cool in any situation and started to take the lead here knowing Andrew wasn't the best in public settings. Ulysses however was smiling while waving frantically at the camera's the whole time, shouting

"Hello Mother! Father! Little sisters! I am on the vid screens!" Andrew tried to stop himself from laughing at his friend's joy and while everyone was distracted, he started to slip away. He looked towards the exit and then saw the only person he wanted to see right now. Without thinking he ran over to the figure in the door way who stood waiting for him and when he reached her, he pulled her into a hug.

"You don't want to enjoy your moment in the spotlight?" Carissa asked him

"No way! Let them deal with that. This is where I want to be." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Better be careful, if they see you with me then what will everyone think?"

"That I'm the luckiest guy in the world." He wasn't joking in the slightest, to him he felt that way every time he was with her.

"Even if my parents see you kissing me on the vid screens?" Andrew went cold and released her, now standing perfectly still with his arms down by his sides.

"Didn't think about that." Carissa then started to laugh

"Don't worry, they'll probably be okay with it. Probably." Andrew was frozen in terror until she moved close to him and this time kissed him on his lips. "Got you." Andrew snorted

"I hope you really aren't being serious, I'd prefer facing that horde out there than deal with your parents right now."

"Then let's put it to the test." Andrew was confused until he saw the reporters running over to him again and sighed

"Why me?" he asked aloud to which Carissa then pushed him back out onto the arena.

"Because you won, champion." She smiled at him and he smiled back, he was going to ask her to join him but knew she wouldn't want to be around that many people just as much as he wouldn't. When the crowd caught up to him, he looked forward and took a deep breath as a flash of white light enveloped him. As he opened his eye, he saw that he was no longer at the arena but instead in an unfamiliar room and started wonder what was going on as he woke up from his dream.


	40. Beginning of Heartache

Slowly but surely, Andrew felt himself coming around as he forced his eye to open and for some time struggled to keep it open. Once he was feeling awake enough, he pulled himself up and began rubbing the right side of his head.

"Good god my head is killing me!" he wheezed out as he continued to try and sooth his head with a gentle circular motion with his hand. "It feels like someone threw my brain through a thresher and then poured the remains back in my skull. Why does it hurt so much and why can't I see through my cyber…. WAIT A MINUTE!?" He quickly shot his left hand to his head as he remembered the last thing that happened to him. With his cybernetic eye showing nothing but darkness he couldn't see his hand move across his face while he quickly probed around to find the damage from where he shot himself. After a couple of seconds, he found what he was looking for, the hole where the bullet had entered. To his surprise and annoyance, he found that it was in his cybernetic head piece a mere inch from his normal head, the hole didn't appear to be very large nor very deep as he tried to insert his finger into it.

"You've got to be kidding me! I MISSED!? I don't believe this! I'm so useless that I can't even kill myself properly!" After he was done assessing the hole, he then began to wave his hand around his cybernetic head piece to reconfirm that he couldn't see anything and soon found out that he couldn't hear anything through it either. Coming quickly to the conclusion that the whole piece had been significantly damaged he sighed knowing that replacing it was not going to be easy but that thought vanished as something else more troubling came to mind. He slowly looked over to his cybernetic arm and started to raise and lower it while at the same time clenched and open his fist.

"Can I trust you?" he said, aiming the question at his cybernetic arm as he waited for an answer that would never come. After a few seconds he brushed his hand down his face as he thought over what this whole situation could mean for him as a person, if he couldn't trust himself anymore then he was in completely the wrong place and would need to remove himself from it. With a sigh he looked back at his other arm and said

"Okay, from now on you listen to me. No acting on your own and if I feel anything odd about you or any other cybernetic piece then I'll make sure I won't miss again. Got it?" Once again, he looked at his arm and slowly made a fist that he then released. The whole act was his own without any other interference so for the time being he felt as though his words had got through to it and he snorted in approval. Now this was all done he finally looked over his body and surroundings, he knew from the room he was in a hospital and he could feel several lines and needles poking into the few organic parts of him he had left including a catheter which caused him to shudder.

"I think I've had enough of hospitals for one lifetime." He started to remove some of the needles and took off the patches that were on his body leaving the catheter for last knowing that the sensation from removing it would be, unpleasant. When he was no longer attached to anything he turned to stand from his bed, putting he real leg down first swiftly followed by his cybernetic leg. All the time he was doing this, his body ached and groaned telling him he'd been here for a few days at least with his head still killing him, but his more immediate concern was his dry throat. He tried to swallow but he soon found he had nothing to swallow with so when he stood up, he walked gingerly over to a trolley that had a glass and jug full of water on it. Ignoring the glass, he simply grabbed the jug and began to down the contents, he was in such a rush to drink he didn't care that most of the water was pouring over him and onto the floor. Once the jug was empty he took a deep breath.

"Ahhh, that's much better." After placing the jug back down and wiping the excess water from around his mouth he scratched his chest through his hospital gown and remembered that he wasn't wearing anything else. Almost on que he felt a cold draft blow across his backside and shivered.

"Better get dressed, but first…" he slowly walked over to the door and put his ear to it, listening for anyone on the other side of the door. Not hearing anything he slowly opened it so as not to make any noise and when he'd opened it enough he put his head out into the corridor and looked both ways. Seeing that there was no one that was close enough to him to see what he was doing he quickly retreated into his room and started looking through the cupboards for his clothes. When he found them, he started to get dressed but did it a lot slower than he normally would as he still wasn't comfortable with his cybernetic parts after what they had nearly done to one of his closest friends. When he was dressed, he put his necklace over his head and then tucked it away under his shirt. Then he checked his pockets to see if his things were there but all he found was some money and rubbish and couldn't find his scroll.

"Crap, they must have taken it. Damn. Well I haven't got time to worry about that right now." He quickly looked over the room again to see if he'd missed it somewhere when he suddenly saw something odd on the table next to his bed. Puzzled, he went over to it and took a closer look seeing what appeared to be a pile of black fabric that had been crunched up into a ball.

"What the? That's not a belt is it? No, I'm wearing mine so what is…" He picked it up and unfurled it to reveal that it was a long thin tie and after a few seconds of deep thought he said. "This is my tie! The one I lent to that uncultured idiot! Oh, come on! You could have at least kept it nice and tidy, there's no need to screw it up into a ball. For god's sake!" Andrew looked over his once pristine tie and let out a groan as he tried to straighten it out but to no avail as the creases were too predominate now. He growled and shoved the tie into his jacket pocket while thinking how he could teach Sun a lesson in looking after other people's possessions. It only lasted a moment when he realised that the boy must have come by to see him and he felt a little calmer, knowing that he'd had a visitor made him feel happy. He knew that Ozpin and the rest of the brotherhood would have come by as they would have been concerned as to why he went crazy, not to mention what it would mean to the rest of them now that the enemy was this close. Seeing that at least one person came by just to see if he was alive was a comforting feeling, even if it was Sun Wukong.

"He's still going to get a smack round the back of his head." He said then stood up straight as a serious look now descended over his face. "I need to speak to a certain Atlas ass-hole about his handy work first though." He had only been awake for about ten minutes but the whole time he was wondering why he acted the way he did and the conclusion he came to put Ironwood at the centre of it. Ironwood was the man who gave him his cybernetic parts and had installed them into his body, he knew everything about every part, so it wouldn't be beyond the realm of possibilities that he'd put some "other" functions in them. With everything that had been happening, Andrew was getting more and more suspicious of Ironwood to the point that he was actively trying to uncover what he was up to so what if he was getting too close to something? What if he'd found out that he was working for the enemy and was about to enact his betrayal? Andrew knew that Ironwood was arrogant, but he was not an idiot so if he knew how close he was to finding him out then he would need to get rid of Andrew. So if he did have a fail-safe protocol built into him that could make him act against his own will, he could have made him do anything he wanted like jumping out of a tall building or…

"Attack someone who would be a threat…" it suddenly dawned on him that if this was true then he could make Andrew attack his comrades and not only kill them but maybe himself in the process. It was really starting to fit together now, with both him and Ozpin out of the way then Ironwood would have complete control over the whole kingdom, the hunters and the brotherhood putting him in the perfect position to give it all over to her…

"I need to find Qrow! Fast!" Andrew went for the door but stopped. "But I can't let anyone see me, if they know I'm awake and everyone finds out then Ironwood will have the advantage, he'll screw us all over before I've left the ward, no I need to get out of here without anyone knowing." He turned around and looked for another exit but only found the door to his toilet. As he started to think of another strategy, he saw the window, "That'll work" He walked over to it and looked down to see he was on the second floor of the hospital, height like this meant nothing to him as he knew his semblance would be able to lift him down without any problems. He noticed that the window was locked and also couldn't be opened to far because of the fittings but once again he had something that would fix that. He fired his cybernetic hand into the top of the window and grabbed the frame with enough force that his hand left an impression. With a good grip he pulled the window open, breaking the lock and once it was open as much as it would allow he pulled harder and broke the restriction fittings as well. Happy with his escape plan he was about to lean out of the window but was interrupted by a voice

"What are you doing in here?!" The voice made Andrew turn around instantly and he saw a nurse standing in the door way. Once she saw his face she added "Mr Tinman?! You shouldn't be up and about! What are you doing?!" She rushed over to him and Andrew stopped her.

"Please be quiet." He asked

"Get back into bed immediately!" Andrew sighed and used his semblance to create a barrier next to the door and used it to close the door which made the nurse turn to look what was happening. Before she could say anything else, Andrew moved over to her and put his hand over her mouth as she let out a yelp.

"Sorry, I'm not trying to scare you, but you really need you to be quiet." He could feel her trembling, but she made no noise. She was an older lady with darker brown hair and some visible wrinkles around her eyes and mouth. She also had a bit of a bulkier build both around her waist and in her chest but wasn't too tall. After he remove his hand she spoke but in a quieter tone

"What are you doing! You need to be in bed, you suffered severe head trauma and shouldn't be walking around let alone leaving the hospital."

"I've suffered worse, don't worry about me but you have to let me go right now."

"I can't do that, you're a patient and a critical one at that."

"You don't understand, everyone in the kingdom is in danger if I don't leave now." She paused and looked stunned

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Look, I need to leave and if you stop me then things could go bad for everyone in the kingdom. Please just let me go." Her stunned look started to change to worry

"I don't understand, what's going to happen?" Andrew ran his hands over his head as he let out a growl.

"I can't tell you but trust me it'll be bad. I need to… do something which could stop it from happening."

"If it's that bad then I'll alert the proper authorities and you can get back into bed…" she went to leave the room, but Andrew stopped her by grabbing her arm

"No!" this made his wince as she expected him to attack her but he didn't do anything. When she recovered, he said "No one can know, at least not yet. I need to find someone first then we can avoid the whole thing from happening. You must let me go." She looked him over then shook her head

"This is all just a ploy to get me to let you leave, look get back into your bed or I'll call someone to restrain you." she was acting a little bit more composed now and Andrew slumped

"If you do that then I'll be forced to retaliate which won't end well. But if you let me go then no one will be harmed."

"I can't simply let you leave. No, it's not happening." Andrew then came up with an idea

"What if I promise to come back?"

"Excuse me?"

"Once I've done what I need to do I'll come straight back and except the consequences." She was now confused

"You think I'll believe you?"

"You must, I promise I'll return." She was looking between him and the door uncertain of what to do as she had clearly never been in this predicament before, so Andrew started to take his jacket off. As he did, she remained confused as he said "I'll leave this with you, this proves that I'll come back. This jacket is worth more than my life so I can guarantee that I'll return for it. When I do you can perform any test you want and keep me here for as long as necessary. Deal?" She took it off him gingerly

"This tattered thing? You'll come back for this?"

"Yes, I'd go through hell to get that back." She looked like she was starting to yield then ran her hand over her face.

"I shouldn't do this… but I have a feeling that trying to keep you here will result in some of my friends and co-workers getting injured so… you can leave under the express deal that you come back as soon as possible!" She waved her finger at him to punctuate her last statement.

"As I said, I promise to return."

"I must be insane letting you go but it looks like I have no choice. Come with me." She once again went to leave the room and Andrew stood still

"Sorry but I can't be seen. I'll leave the way I was going to." He pointed to the window

"We're on the second floor! If you jump then you'll more than likely be right back in here!" Andrew half smiled

"No I won't, I'll be just fine." She was really worried now

"I can't believe I'm letting this happen?! I'll loose my job for this."

"You won't because once I get back I'll explain the whole thing and tell them I left when no one was here. But if you could keep up the illusion I'm still here for a little while I'd much appreciate it." She now looked like she was going to explode but after a few moments took a deep breath.

"I won't make any promises, but I'll see what I can do."

Giving her one last look he then walked back over to the window and leapt from it just as he heard a gasp from the nurse when he stood on his barrier he'd created a few feet below the windowsill. When she saw he wasn't falling, her shocked face became confused.

"I told you, I'll be fine." He then slowly lowered the barrier to the ground and once his feet were back on firm ground, he looked around for an exit. It was getting late and the nights were drawing in, so he had the darkness to help him get around but with a face like his, he would need a lot more help than that. When he saw a way out, he headed straight for it and continued through the hospital grounds while trying to keep his face hidden. Now wishing he'd not left his jacket back in his room he cautiously moved around and tried to avoid any other people who might be walking around. After a while he saw a fence and thought that it would be better to jump it than go for an exit that other people might use so without any hesitation, he ran towards it and using a barrier snap below his feet he jumped clean over the fence, landing on the other side with a roll.

"Okay, I'm out so now it's time to find Qrow." He looked around where he landed and found he was in a side alley that would be used by trucks to deliver items to the hospital so headed for the main street. As he headed towards the transports to the school, he noticed that the city was gearing up for the next match of the final, so he hoped that they wouldn't be paying him any particular mind. Still he walked with his head tilted to try and keep his cybernetic part of his face away from the crowd as he didn't want anyone seeing him before he had found Qrow. As he walked, he suddenly started to slow when his memories from the other night surfaced and he thought about Yang. After a minute, he decided that at this moment in time it was more important to find Qrow and stop Ironwood but when all was done, he would find her. He needed to see her, speak to her and discern what truly happened on the arena floor.

"I haven't forgotten you Yang, just give me some time." He said under his breath and carried on walking. The streets were clearing out fast as people were heading to any place that would be showing the match which only made it easier for him to go unnoticed. As he walked around, he found a discarded beanie hat which he immediately put on, tilting it over his cybernetic side of his face to keep it hidden. Feeling happy with his improvised disguise he carried on walking hoping that he wasn't going to be too late to warn the others. When he reached the transports, he hopped on one that was heading for the school and was glad that it was at least quiet.

When he arrived he got off as quick as he could and went straight for his flat, Qrow would be difficult to find on the campus and if he ran into Ironwood first then it could make things worse. He decided to call Qrow from his spare scroll in his room that he had for emergencies. Once he reached his flat's door, he then remembered that his main scroll was still in the hospital which he would need to get in to retrieve his spare. He sighed

"Crap." He then looked both ways to make sure the area was clear and with one swift kick he knocked the door down. "I'll fix that when I get back later." He said as he put the door back up against the door frame to create the illusion that it was still attached to its hinges. Now he was in he quickly looked around for his spare scroll so that he could contact Qrow but as he did he turned on his vid screen to watch the match which was showing soon, at this point he was still undiscovered so Ironwood wouldn't be expecting anything and he could take his time and be careful. When he saw that it would be Pyrrha that would be fighting he stopped what he was doing and started to watch the fight.

"Another person I need to see..." He looked down at his hands but his right in particular. "…only if I can trust myself again." He sighed and clenched both his fists "I'm so selfish, a time when other people need help and I go do this. Well after today I'll make sure that'll never happen again." As the match went on, he watched Pyrrha fight one of Ironwoods students and was impressed with her capabilities as she fought well against Pyrrha. He could tell though that even through a camera that Pyrrha wasn't right and he knew that she must have been going through so much after the bomb they had all dropped on her. He slammed his fist into his desk in anger, he'd promised her that he would be there for her and he wasn't.

He was only half watching the fight as he looked through his desk but kept an ear open for Peter and Barty's commentary so that he wouldn't miss anything important. After a while he looked up and saw that Pyrrha had been disarmed which shouldn't have affected her, but her face was unknown to him covered in fear. He'd never seen her so scared as she stared down her opponent who was preparing an attack, he stopped searching and focused all his attention on the screen. When the attack came, he saw that it was stopped by Pyrrha most likely using her semblance, but it wasn't finished as the young girl she was fighting was suddenly sliced to pieces.

"Oh my god!" he stood up and was shocked by what he saw but when he saw no blood come from the girl which was instead mechanical inner's he paused. "She's… she's a robot? Ironwood put a robot girl in this tournament? Why? What could he have possibly gained from this?" The screens remained on the pair until it turned red and a picture of a chess piece appeared over the broadcast feed followed by a woman's voice

"This is not a tragedy… This was not an accident… This is what happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your children to men who claim to be our guardians that in reality are nothing more than men." Andrew stood listening to this woman ramble on and on about the supposed faults and failings of the academies and kingdoms. He knew that it was supposed to make him feel upset and horrified but instead just got him mad, when she was finished the screen turned to static.

Knowing that the enemy was now enacting their plan, he raced over to his wardrobe whilst almost falling over his own feet as he went due to his current condition. Reaching behind the wardrobe with his cybernetic hand, he forced it away from the wall in one clean push. Behind it was a dusted sliding door with a small groove built into it that functioned as a handle which was smaller than the wardrobe that was concealing it. Within seconds Andrew had already opened the door that once functioned as the built-in wardrobe of the flat and looked inside as his body went cold at the sight of his old armour. A pure adrenaline rush pushed him on and he pulled the armour out onto his bed as he changed into clothing that would work better underneath it which were a black thin long sleeve shirt and some skinny fitting dark trousers. After this he put on the armour unaware that it was still all reflexive to him even after hiding it away for several years, only stopping when he was putting his right arm guard on over his cybernetic arm. After a quick shake of his head he then continued preparing himself for the battle that was to come. After he was ready, he then charged into the living room and over to the case on the wall where Soul Splitter resided and reached to grab it with his right hand. He stopped, looking at his hand then at the axe, it had been so long since he last held his weapon that his hand was real back then. He closed his eye while taking a deep breath

"Another time. I'll deal with this another time but right now…" He then smashed through the glass and gripped his axe tightly while pulling it out of his case. "…I have a mission to complete." He then put it in his holster on his back and finally ran to his broken door that was still leaning against the door frame. Moving it with one quick movement, he flung it to one side and continued running out of his flat and towards the main exit to the building.

When he was outside, he saw to his horror that too many people were now running in complete panic around the courtyard after what they had witnesses and heard on the vid screens. He desperately wanted help them escape to the city, but he knew that he had something far more important to do right now and snarled at himself for abandoning his hunter oath to do what must be done. Moving through the crowd he suddenly heard aircraft flying overhead causing him to look up to see who it was, shockingly when the doors opened it wasn't what he wanted to see. Three Grimm jumped out into the crowd of people, two Creeps and an Ursa that were even more riled up due to the excess of negative emotions. Without a second thought, Andrew charged into them while he readied his axe.

"Everyone run away now!" He shouted to the citizens which they all did without question as the three Grimm eyed him up on his approach. The Ursa ran towards him first on all fours and as soon as it was in range it lashed out only for its whole limb to be sliced off. It roared in pain as it slid past him while Andrew stood where he was with his axe in hand looking at his other opponents, the two Creeps that were not interested in him but the people around him. Before he started on them though he swung his axe behind him as the Ursa tried another attack which failed as its head was cleaved from his body. Andrew then charged towards the Creeps, the one furthest away he trapped in his barriers that created a box around it and the other he readied his axe. The Creep never saw him coming as he sliced it in half with a swing that ended with the axe embedded in the ground, with it now fading he turned his attention to the other Creep that was snapping at its invisible cage.

"Pathetic creatures." He said and in an instant the barrier shrank, crushing the Grimm into a mush that when he realised it instantly started to fade away. Taking a breath he looked all around to make sure that no other Grimm had been dropped off in this area and to his relief there were none.

"I haven't got time for this! The tower is my one and only priority right now!" He was growling at himself as a way to remember that his purpose was far more important than the people that he was supposed to be protecting. Suddenly he saw the three Elysium airships that had been patrolling the skies above Beacon, knowing that they were full of soldiers and mechs that would be protecting the people should have made him feel more at ease about abandoning them. However their leader was still in question in his mind and he couldn't fully trust them, that was until one of the three turned to face the other two and opened fire. Andrew gasped in shock as the one that was shot crashed into the other and both fell from the air, crashing into the city in a burst of flames.

"What the hell is happening?!" Witnessing this caused Andrews mind to scramble together some kind of reason as to why Ironwoods ships would fire upon themselves unless he was going to openly admit to the world he was no longer on their side. He stood motionless as the flames from the wrecks grew larger and he felt sorrow for all the innocent people who would have been killed in the crash. This was fleeting as now that the city had less able people to protect it he was going to need to get to the tower before it was too late so he went into a full run in its direction.

He'd been running around for several minutes and when he turned a bend, he came across a few Atlas soldiers with a battalion of mechs gunning down a swarm of Grimm. Getting close to them tried speaking to one of the soldiers

"What's going on? Do you know anything about the Grimm's numbers or when reinforcements will reach the city?" The solider turned to face him and gave a quick salute which Andrew ignored

"Sir! Sorry but the answer to both of those questions is unknown. With the loss of the airships we now only have what we've got on the ground. I'm sure that the general will have called for more soldiers but most will be outside the kingdom, no telling when they'll arrive. We're on our own right now." Andrew sighed

"Right, then I'm sorry to ask this of you but I need your group to help me reach Beacon tower, the safety of the kingdom depends upon it. I can't tell you why, but I need to get there now. Can you help?" The man checked his gun and looked over to his mechs.

"Sure, we'll get you there no problem! Our mechs will lead the way through the chaos, we'll be there in ten minutes." As Andrew nodded, he noticed the mechs stopped firing and looked to be frozen which made one of the other men pause and call out

"What's wrong? No one ordered you to stop shooting!" Andrew watched as the mechs turned around and saw their face plates were now coloured red.

"I don't think they're supposed to look like that." He said to the man next to him but before he could reply the mechs opened fire and gunned down the other two men. Andrew only just managed to put up a barrier to protect him and the remaining solider in time as the bullets continued ricocheting off it. The Grimm took this chance and ran towards the mechs and began tearing them apart so now that they were distracted Andrew channelled his barrier into his blade and released his barrier slash, carving them all in half.

"That shouldn't have happened! Those mechs are under General Ironwoods control, they shouldn't have turned on us like that!" Shouted the soldier and Andrew's mind once more thought about what this could mean, if Ironwood was making his move then he was being sloppy about it. His position in the Atlas military was more valuable than winning one battle for her so if he was behind this then there would be no going back, and he would be almost useless to their enemy.

"Well something happened to them but we'll have to figure it out later, we've got bigger problems to deal with." He looked over to Beacon tower then added "Can you still help me reach the tower?" The man looked at his fallen comrades then over to the massacre of mechs and fading Grimm, Andrew thought he was going to fall apart and to be honest he couldn't have blame him but instead he said

"If it's important that you get there then I'll escort you sir." Andrew half smile and patted the man on his shoulder and the two started to run towards the tower. As they ran, they came across several small groups of Grimm that held them up but together they prevailed and continued towards their objective. Then they both suddenly almost lost their feet as the ground started to rumble so they both stopped.

"What was that?" the soldier asked to which Andrew paused as another rumble shook the ground.

"I have no idea." Then the ground shook for a third time but this time it didn't stop until an enormous eruption filled the night air followed by a truly nerve shattering cry. Looking up into the sky they both saw in terror that a nearby mountain had been ripped open and a Grimm unlike anything Andrew had even seen before took flight from the ruins. His blood ran cold and for several moments he stood petrified with fear until the soldier spoke up

"Sir? The tower?" Andrew snapped back to reality and looked at the soldier

"I'll go, you need to get out of here."

"Excuse me?"

"We can't win this, not with something like that flying around. Get out of here. I'll go on alone." The soldier stood defiantly

"With all due respect sir, bullshit! I'm not leaving here. I can't abandon this place to those things, you said that the tower was important so I'm going to get you there." Andrew shook his head.

"That's commendable of you but I'm not sending you on a suicide mission with me when it's not your problem. Go and round up all the remaining Atlas soldiers that are still in Beacon and try and create an evacuation area near the front of the campus. The people need you more than I do now." He could tell that the soldier was in two minds right now, a part of him wanted to assist him in getting to the tower but the other part saw logic in retreating. After a few seconds he replied

"Okay, I'll do that. The people will need all the help they can get at a time like this." Andrew was proud of this man, unlike other soldiers he'd met this one wasn't an unthinking grunt and wanted to do the right thing. Andrew stuck out his hand

"Good man, take care and I hope I see you when all of this is over." The man lowered his gun and took the outstretched hand

"You too, sir." Andrew shook his head

"Andrew will do fine. What was your name again?" The soldier smiled

"Corporal Norton Somerset." Andrew nodded, and they ended the handshake

"Good luck Norton." Andrew went to turn away when the corporal answered back

"You too Andrew. Thanks for saving my life." Andrew stopped and acknowledge the response with and half smile and the two men went their separate ways. As Andrew moved on, he wondered if he was right about Ironwood who was now sacrificing his men, his reputation, his position and allowing his prized mechs to be seen attacking people. It all seemed to be going too far as James was no fool and some of what was happening didn't make sense with who he was, he wasn't giving up on the idea of Ironwood betraying them but he was coming close to.

Entering a courtyard area of the campus, Andrew was really starting to feel weird and could tell that the nurse was right. Even though at the time he wasn't too bad, now his head was starting to spin from time to time making him rather nauseous. After swallowing hard to try and deter himself from vomiting, he carried on when he heard the sound of battle coming from nearby. He stopped and looked in the direction the noise was coming from then to Beacon tower that was still off in the distance. After several transitions between these two points of view, he let out a groan and ran in the direction of the battle hoping that he might find Qrow or Glynda in the middle of it. When he reached the source of the noise, he saw instead a collection of students that had just finished fighting a number of Atlas mechs. They all seemed to relax until another much more threatening mech came into view and Andrew heard Sun's familiar voice shout

"You've got to be kidding me!" Andrew looked over to the mech that was then joined by two other large mechs that he'd seen around the battle zone but as they started to head towards the students, he found himself calling out.

"HAY!" not only did the mechs turn to look at him but so did all the students in the courtyard. "How about to fight someone more your speed." Even though he was speaking to machines, he still addressed them as villains as they had threatened his students. The Mechs then came charging at him at full speed so he grabbed his axe with one hand and when the superior mech was nearly on top of him, he sent a short barrier slash into its chest plate. It flew a few feet into the air and fell to the ground with a huge crash but before he could do anything else the other two mechs started their attack. The first one aimed a strike at him that ended up in the ground as Andrew jumped over it to land on the mechs arm. Not missing a beat, he charged up the arm and stood atop it, watching the second mech reach out a hand to grab him Andrew encased it in a barrier which gave him control over its movement. He lowered the hand and increased its speed so that it smashed through the other mechs cockpit and exploded out of the other side. With the mech he was standing on no longer functioning, he threw his axe end over end into the other mech at a point on its head which caused sparks to fly from it. He then ran across the make shift bridge that the mech had created with its arm while it tried to pull its hand free and when Andrew was on it, pulled the axe from its head. As it reached up with its other arm, using his cybernetic hand he grabbed one of the exposed power cables from the opening on its head and leapt from off its back. The cable that ripped out of its back also pulled several other leads and parts with it to a point that when Andrew reached the ground, it too was out of commission.

"Sorry Ironwood, they still need a lot of work." Out of the corner of his eye he saw the first mech back on its feet and it had switched to range mode. It started to unleash a barrage of weapons fire at him so he protected himself with a cube shaped barrier around himself, with all of the debris that was being sent up around him neither the mech nor Andrew were visible to anyone else. When it stopped shooting though, Andrew didn't wait for it to attack him again so focused his barrier into his axe head and charged through the cloud of dust. When he was standing only a few feet from the mech he leapt into the air with a spin and unleashed his barrier slash that craved it in two from its left shoulder to its waist. The top half of it slid off the bottom and slowly its lights started to fade so Andrew once more sheathed his axe back on his back. Now that he had finished fighting, his head was really starting to thump loudly in his ears coupled with his over use of his barrier he was also feeling rather weak.

 _You're wasting time and energy, get to the tower! NOW!_ He stood up straight and looked over at the mass of students running over to him.

"Professor Tinman! You're okay!?" Weiss looked very relieved to see him but before he could answer Sun was already speaking

"Damn! Even when you're unwell, you still know how to kick butt!" He looked impressed at the junk pile that had formed around Andrew who scoffed

"If Ironwood had better programmed mechs then none of this would be necessary. Are all of you unharmed?" The group responded with a mix of weary and unsure answers, but all seemed to be uninjured.

"What should we do now?" asked Coco

"Everyone head for the evacuation zone."

"No way we're staying to help!" Nora was adamant in staying put

"Yeah! We're not leaving here while the Grimm are still at large!" Neptune pointed at the mayhem behind them to prove his point, so Andrew interrupted anyone else before they had anything to say

"I didn't say that you should evacuated. Get over there and help form a perimeter, defend the area and give people somewhere to run to. Once the area is secured then report to the hunters in charge and set up search and rescue missions for any trapped survivors." They were all surprised at what he told them. "Fighting here isn't going to help anyone, all you're doing is spinning your wheels at an infinite hoard. This battle is unwinnable so just worry about saving as many civilians as possible. You've trained for this and I know that you will do your mission without hesitation, make me proud." They all took on board what he said but when he turned his head he heard a lot of commotion from the group and when he looked back he was confused until Sun shouted

"What the hell happened to your head?!" Andrew raised his eyebrow then remembered his gun shot wound in his cybernetic head piece which he automatically reached up to. He made a cough then said

"Nothing to worry about, I'll get it fixed when this situation is resolved." It was at this point that he realised that Ozpin must have kept quiet over his reason for being in the hospital so he would follow suit. Weiss still didn't look convinced he was okay

"Are you sure you should be out here sir. You should be in the hospital." Andrew sighed

"I'm no use there right now Miss Schnee but when all this is done then I'll head back there immediately. Now all of you get moving." He pointed in the direction of the courtyard where he knew the extraction point would be. "I'll leave you in charge Miss Schnee, get them all there safely." She looked up to him and stood tall

"I won't let you down sir."

"I know you won't." he replied with a half-smile which was interrupted by the voice of Yang calling out to them.

"Weiss!" They both looked over to Yang "Professor! You're awake!" Andrew just waved back at her until she got closer and she asked "Have you heard from Ruby?" It was only then that Andrew noticed she wasn't here, with his head screwed up over his condition and the extra stress of battle he realised that he'd not seen her. "What about Blake?"

"She went after an Alpha." Weiss then pointed to a building nearby and Andrew looked over to it "…and some members of the white fang."

"Why does that girl never listen to me!" Andrew said as he put his axe on his back. Yang who was looking over to the building too said

"You look for Ruby, I'll meet up with Blake." And she went to run off as Andrew called out

"Come back here Miss Xiao Long! I need you to…" before he could finish, she shouted

"I'm going to find her teach! You can't stop me!" and then she was out of sight. Lie Ren then went to go after her.

"I'll go and make sure she comes back." Andrew held up his hand and made a vicious noise that made him stop.

"You're going to the extraction point! All of you! Miss Schnee, get them there and only after you've secured the extraction zone will you then search for Miss Rose. The civilians are your top priority."

"Yes sir but what about Yang?" He looked over to where she had disappeared and growled.

"Let's just hope that she and Miss Belladonna will meet up there before we abandon Beacon."

"Abandon Beacon? Is it really that bad?"

"It's worse." He looked over again at the spot where Yang was

"Are you going after them?" Weiss asked

"No, I've got my own mission at Beacon Tower." With a sigh he then said "I'm sure they'll both be fine, your team seems to love getting in situations like this and walking away unscathed." Weiss smiled and Andrew then pointed to the extraction zone. "Get moving, I'll see you there when I'm done."

"Good luck sir." She said and he looked back at her

"You too." He then ran off towards the tower once more feelings worse for wear as his head was really starting to ache now. As he ran he wondered if Yang and Blake would be okay but shut himself off from it as he had spent too much time and energy on this invasion and not on his mission.

 _They'll be fine, you'll see. You worry about them all the time and they always make it back without a scratch._

He wanted to go after them, stay with his students but now more than any other time in his life was the time he needed to put aside the ones he cared about for the greater good of the world. He eventually came across the area in front of the tower but standing there was a group of White Fang members who appeared to be guarding the tower rather than attacking it. Andrew moved in at a marching pace and when they finally spotted him one shouted

"We got company, looks like Beacons robo freak." The others laughed and readied their weapons, so Andrew sighed and continued marching. "One more step and it'll be your last freak!" the same one called out while Andrew sighed under his breath. "You asked for it! Waste him!" Three of the Faunus opened fire on Andrew who had already put up a barrier and when they saw it wasn't working, a number of them started to run at him. Andrew slowly removed his axe from his back with his left arm then handed it to his right in a way that put the haft before the head. When the first Faunus was within striking distance he fired his right arm at such force and speed that when the haft made contact with his opponents mask, it shattered instantly and the one behind it fell to the ground. With one out of the way he brought up the axe to block the next two sword strikes that were coming down at him and using his cybernetic arm's strength, held them in place. He could feel them trying to push down on him but he didn't budge and with them fixated on his weapon, they didn't see his foot move. He raised his cybernetic leg off the ground and in a fluid quick motion slammed it into each of his enemies' feet causing them to scream in pain. While they were distracted, they eased off on their joint strike allowing Andrew to push them off and with one violent punch across their jaws, they then both followed the first Faunus to the ground in a crumpled heap.

Before he could catch his breath another four White Fang members were on him so he swung his axe with full force and snapped one of his attackers blades clean in half. Once his swing was finished, Andrew brought the axe back the way it came so that the butt of the axe head smashed into the Faunus' head which sent him spinning into another attacker. He kept his attack going by unleashing an uppercut into the next Faunus that saw him rocket into the air leaving just one more in front of him who staggered to a halt. For his next attack, Andrew threw his axe at the last enemy which knock him out cold with a loud crack as it hit him in the forehead. Just as he used his barrier to retrieve his axe did the third Faunus land on the other two who were still in a pile on the floor and as a last attack Andrew slammed the end of the haft into the back of the one on top. The floor beneath them cracked and they stopped moving leaving the last three gunmen standing at the steps to the tower.

"Crap! Get inside and bar him from getting in!" The leader said as they all turned to run, not knowing that Andrew had raised a barrier behind them and watched as they all crashed into the invisible wall. Andrew walked forward and raised his free hand to help him visualise the movement of his barrier as it turned on a right angle. He then sent it speeding at a nearby wall with all three White Fang members unable to move and when it hit the wall, it embedded them quite deeply into it. With a snort Andrew released his barrier and walked towards the tower.

"Not one of them had been trained. Do they just give them a weapon and hope they'll be able to fight?" he said disapprovingly while he opened the door to the tower and only when he closed the door did the three stuck in the walk fall limply out of it.

Now he was inside he ran to the elevators which didn't seem to be working and one of the doors was wide open showing the shaft behind. Not wanting to waste anymore time he leapt into the open shaft, creating a barrier at his feet and lowered himself down to the lowest floor. 

Reaching the bottom of the shaft he looked all around as he ran into the room, his axe in hand half expecting a fight already to be underway but to his surprise there was nothing there. He slowed to a jog and carefully looked around the large room seeing clear evidence that a fight had indeed happened but there was no one here now.

"Hello!" There was no response. "Anyone there? Hello! Ozpin! Someone talk to me!" when he finished shouting, he looked to the end of the long room to where Amber was inside her special pod but there was no light emanating from it.

"Did they do it?" He ran towards it to inspect the machine, believing that Ozpin had already infused Pyrrha with Amber's aura however when he got closer he saw evidence something else had taken place. The hole in Amber's pod was not a good sign and when he was closer, he saw that blood had spilled from a wound created by the same thing that had created the hole. He put his axe back in its holster then placed his hand on the pod knowing it was too late

"I'm sorry we failed, both you and the people of Remnant." He bowed his head "May you now be at peace, away from this torment." He let his hand slip away and raised his head. Upon doing so he turned to leave the way he came in thinking that the fight must have moved elsewhere, but he couldn't hear any signs of battle. He took a few steps then accidentally kicked something that was laying on the floor. Hearing it rattle across the ground his eye eventually landed on where the object was now resting, it only took him a moment to recognise it as Ozpin's cane.

"What the…" He bent down to examine it then picked it up, looking around the room again, he was hoping that he could find Ozpin. The signs of the battle started to tell him the story of what happened here, but he could not tell who was victorious. Sadly the fact that Ozpin's cane was here and he wasn't didn't bode well.

"Ozpin! Professor!" he called as he ran all around the room looking for any sign of his friend but couldn't find anything. "OZPIN! WHERE ARE YOU!?" he became far more panicked over his friends state that his mind was starting to unravel at the thought of his death which made him stop as though he had been turned to stone. "Did I hurt him when I lost control? Did I attribute to this?" He clasped his head in his hands and then released an almighty cry of pain as he concluded that he was responsible for everything that was happening at this moment.

"WHY?! WHY DO I EXIST IF ALL I DO IS CAUSE SUFFERING TO OTHERS!?" he was screaming at the ceiling in vain hope that he would get an answer but got nothing in response. "ANSWER ME!" with another empty response he looked at Ozpin's cane with water filling his eye and he held it tighter. Not wanting to believe the conclusion he had come to he shook his head and then made the cane retract so he could hang it from his armour. "No, you're alive somewhere. You just dropped this, that's all. I'll keep it safe for you." His mind was refusing to listen to his gut telling him to except the truth which was causing him inner turmoil. Suddenly he felt a rumble in the tower followed by the sound of something large crashing into the tower itself, so he ran for the elevator shaft.

 _He's alive! He's proved you wrong many times before, so he'll do it again!_

He jumped into the shaft looking up and seeing the faint light from the outside moonlight he created a barrier at his feet and began to ascend the tower to the source of the disturbance.

When he finally reached the top of the tower, he was shocked to see that the room that had once been Ozpin's office was no more. It had been destroyed, a complete wreck of its former beauty but this was swiftly followed by dread as he witnessed something that he wished he would never see. Pyrrha was kneeling on the ground with an unknown woman dressed in red standing before her armed with a bow and in a split second from his realisation of what was about to happen, the arrow she was aiming fired. The moment it pierced Pyrrha's chest his heart stopped

"PYRRHA!" he screamed and ran towards her, forgetting anything else around him which included a torrent of flames that engulfed him. With the force they were coming at him he found that he was being pushed back into the shaft from where he came. Hitting the back of it with a thud, he quickly created a barrier to catch himself so that he didn't fall all the way back down. He felt incredibly warm but his aura had taken much of the force of the attack so he picked himself up and returned to the former office in time to see the assailant turn Pyrrha to ash, leaving only her head piece to fall to the ground. Andrew was overcome, trying to suppress his sorrow and tears he manifested a rage like one he'd never felt before and charged the attacker

"ARRRRRR!" was all be could muster as he raised his axe above his head.

"Oh please, do be quiet mutt." She said but as she was about to attack, they both then heard a sound of another's voice cry out.

"PYRRHA!" then a flash of light enveloped them both, causing the attacker to scream out

"WHAT!?" Andrew couldn't speak as he shielded his eye from the light and swung with his axe in a vain attempt to hit his opponent, but he never felt it connect. After this he dropped his axe and covered his eyes with both hands while waiting for the light to subside, during all of this he heard a cry of agony but couldn't see what had happened or who was in pain. Not long after, the light disappeared but Andrew still found it hard to open his eye after such intense light was shone in it. Once he regained his sight, he saw another image that turned his body to ice in the form of Ruby Rose unconscious on the floor.

"No! No! No!" he screamed as he nearly fell over himself to get to her as quickly as possible. "Not you! Not another one of mine!" He reached her still body, falling to the ground and picking her up in his arms but her body was completely limp as if all life had been drained from it. His quickening heart rate and erratic breathing was sending his mind into a state of horror and only when he placed his ear to her chest was he then rewarded with a faint heartbeat of her own. At this moment he felt like time had slowed to a crawl waiting for the thump but when he heard it, his body slumped, and he raised his head looking up at the sky above him with tears running down his face. There were no words he could say as he held Ruby in his arms, he then looked back down at her then pulled her in close in his arms with a grip that not even a Grimm Alpha could prize her away from him.

"Please don't leave me." He whispered through his sobs as he sat on top of Beacon tower, unaware of the huge Grimm Dragon that was frozen over them.


	41. Down Beneath Failure

Kneeling with Ruby held tightly in his arms, he couldn't help but begin to cry. Witnessing the whole scene that had taken place before him made him see how unprepared he truly was to aid Ozpin in his goal. He couldn't even protect his own students so how could he protect the whole world from these true monsters?

Eventually he slowly placed Ruby on the ground so that he could stand, wiped his face and walked over to where he saw Pyrrha die. He was looking at the only thing that proved that she once existed in this world, her head piece which was still where it had fallen. It took him a few seconds to pick it up but when he did, he looked it over before finally saying

"I'm sorry… so sorry Miss Nik… Pyrrha." He held it to his chest and almost let himself become overwhelmed but remembered that this wasn't a safe place anymore and he had someone else to protect right now. When he looked back up he finally noticed the huge dragon Grimm that was looming above him, he then took a step back as he went to grab his axe but saw it wasn't moving.

"What the…. How did this…." He started to ask himself but quickly pushed these questions to the back of his mind, he needed to get out of there and get Ruby to safety. While not taking his eye off the Grimm he walked back over to Ruby and carefully picked her up in his arms wondering if this was all a dream or hallucination. Had he even left the hospital room? Did he fall back into a coma but didn't realise and his mind played all this out to him just to torture him for his failings?

"No this is real, I've never been so lucky for that to be true." Taking one last lingering look at the dragon, expecting it to come to life when he turned away, he finally took a step off the tower onto one of his barriers. He was feeling like he'd been through hell as his body was aching, wanting to yield to his exhaustion as he realised what the nurse had told him was true, he wasn't ready yet and began to descend.

As he touched the ground, he looked over the courtyard and saw that there were no Grimm anywhere in sight. They could have been hidden but the sound of complete silence made that unlikely, Grimm were smarter than most people gave them credit for however he knew this wasn't a planned ambush. There was simply nothing there, the area was clear of any signs of life as though everything had been erased for not even the White Fang members that he fought were outside either. Still he knew it was better to be safe than sorry, so he raised a barrier in a dome like shape over the two of them just off the ground and began walking towards the extraction zone.

Passing through the campus he could see the signs of battle everywhere he looked, each area telling its own story of fear and dread from the bodies and blood that littered the ground. Each one of these people fell because he along with all the other hunters and members of the Brotherhood were simply not prepared for it. He kept an eye out for anything that would want to attack them and tried his hardest to keep his fragile and emotional mind in check to not encourage any Grimm to come looking for them while they were vulnerable. Unfortunately, he wasn't good enough to keep them all away as he felt pain and sorrow for the loss of his friend and student whom he had both sworn to protect, and several Grimm did find them along the way. However due to his barrier, none of them could reach the pair so he continued walking with these monsters clawing and snapping at the barrier in hopes of breaking through.

When he did reach the extraction zone the soldiers and hunters stationed there killed the Grimm that had been accompanying them in a hail of gun fire and soon stopped when they saw the two humans calmly walking towards them.

"Hay we got some more survivors over here!" Called one man and some of the soldiers came running over to Andrew so he finally lowered his barrier thankful they had made it as he didn't know how much longer he could have held it up.

"Don't worry your safe now, we'll help you get to safety." Another one said as they brought them into the perimeter of the safe zone. Looking at all the people and soldiers that had now surrounded him he couldn't help but begin to feel overwhelmed, his mind was screaming at him not to trust anyone as there was still a chance that there may be a real traitor amongst them.

"Please sir, lets us take her off your hands so we can examine her…"

"Don't you dare touch her!" he screamed

"You must understand we can't help until…"

"BACK OFF NOW!" Andrew was getting worked up as his vision darted around everyone around him while he span around.

"Take it easy! None of us here are going to hurt her."

"Like I'd believe that! Just leave us alone!"

"We're here to help, we're not the enemy."

"I'm warning you! Stay back or you'll regret it!" As one of the soldiers went to try and restrain Andrew, he let loose a violent headbutt than knocked the solider to the ground causing everyone else around him to back up a few steps. Andrew's breathing soon started to sound like he was snarling like a wounded animal ready to lash out at anyone who was stupid enough to get close to him. With no one brave enough the enter his zone of attack, they all stood on looking for an opening and just when they were about to strike another man entered the ring.

"Andrew." He span around so fast that it took his eye a couple of seconds to register who it was but when it focused he could see his old friend Qrow standing before him. "It's okay now, you can let her go." Andrew looked back to Ruby and then to the crowd of soldiers while his breathing was still erratic. "You're safe now, she's safe." Andrew started to slow his breathing and eventually his eye fell on the still unconscious Ruby, only then releasing his grip as he slowly held her out to Qrow who carefully took her from him. He walked off with her and handed her over to someone who ran her off out of sight and with Ruby in safe hands, Qrow looked back to the other wounded person who needed his help.

"I'm so glad to see you back on your feet Andrew but I have to know, how did you even get here?" Andrew didn't answer and just continued breathing heavily, knowing he wasn't going to get an answer to that question he tried asking another. "Were you at the tower? Do you know what happened in there?" He didn't say a word and reached around to grab Ozpin's cane and handed it to Qrow. For only a moment Qrow looked at it before realising what it meant. "Oh, damn. What about the girl?"

"Pyrrha." Andrew snapped almost instantly to which Qrow raised his hand.

"Yeah Pyrrha." He looked back at Andrew who let out a sigh and almost collapsed on his feet just as Qrow caught him after which he began to walk him away. "I'm sorry buddy, I know she was special to you." He gave him a once over and wondered how he had got this far. "We'd better get you some help before you pass out." They walked over to where the shuttles were landing which was also where the medical personnel were dealing with injured survivors. Andrew looked at all the people there and wondered how many more didn't make it this far, he'd seen bodies on his way back here but there were bound to be more just how many more? Suddenly he saw two men carrying a stretcher with another man running with them and young girl laying on it, a girl with long blond hair…

He pushed off Qrow with a burst of adrenaline towards the group and barged his way through the crowd not wanting to believe what he saw but had to confirm it for himself. When he was nearly there the man running alongside the stretcher saw him coming and was about to stop him.

"Sir please stand back! We've got a seriously injured person here who we need to get immediate…"

"HOW OF MY WAY!" Andrew screamed and almost threw the man away and saw the person he didn't want to see, Yang Xiao Long and as he looked her over, he saw her injury in the form of a stump where her right arm used to be.

"What do you think you are doing!?" The man he had pushed away was back and grabbing Andrew's cybernetic arm in an attempt to pull him away but to no avail. Andrew didn't even notice him as he stared on, losing what was left of his rational thinking mind but before anything else happened Qrow had caught up with them and grabbed Andrew's other shoulder.

"Andrew, come on. You've got to let them take her away, she needs medical attention." Andrew heard his friends' words, but he still reached out with his cybernetic arm at where Yang's arm used to be. He stopped short and saw his own arm knowing that this would be her fate now so let it fall limply by his side which Qrow took as a sign he wouldn't stop them further. Qrow nodded the men on and they carried on taking Yang to a shuttle that also housed Ruby on board and was about to evacuate so he turned to Andrew and said

"I've got to stay with Yang and Ruby so I'm going too, you need to come as well so let's move!" Andrew didn't move, he was stuck to the ground staring with a void look in his eye at nothing. Qrow tried to move him but he didn't budge and after a few failed attempts he looked towards the shuttle and back to Andrew. "I've got to go! Please get in the shuttle!" Still he didn't move so defeated Qrow stopped trying to pull him. "Fine if you won't come then stay here! I've got other people to worry about right now!" Qrow then ran for the shuttle and as soon as he was aboard the doors closed, seconds later it took off towards Vale.

Everything was becoming distant; the sounds of battle still rang out along with the cries of people who were scared or hurt but none of it even registered with Andrew. His mind was starting to fall into despair as the sights he'd witnessed on this night coupled with the memories from his haunted past began to swirl together causing him to shut down. Until he heard one thing that did penetrate his cripple psyche

"Professor Tinman?" It was a young girls voice that he knew all too well and when he looked at where it came from, he saw Blake standing off on her own looking right at him on the verge of tears. He started to move with a quickening pace all the while wearing the same face as the moment before and Blake continued to speak "I'm sorry professor, I couldn't stop it! It all happened so fast and then Yang was down, and I couldn't stop him!" Andrew was soon upon her and Blake thought he was about to barrel right through her, so she winced waiting for the impact that came in the form of a hug so tight she wasn't sure what he was doing.

"Please, please tell me you're okay." His words were so quiet she almost didn't hear them.

"No, but I'm alive." Andrew let out a sob as he held her.

"I can't lose you too, not you. I'm the one who should be sorry. I forced you all to do something I should have done myself, but I was so weak I let everyone down." After another sob he added "You and your team didn't deserve any of this! I'm sorry!" Blake then returned the hug, seeing this side of her professor caused her to cry herself coupled with what had happened to Yang.

"Why are you here professor? You're not well, shouldn't you be in the hospital?" Andrew finally let her go and felt the hole in the side of his cybernetic head piece.

"Scrap yard more likely. But I couldn't stand by and simply let this happen so I foolishly thought I could help avoid it." After another paused, he confessed "I was too late to save Miss Nikos and Miss Rose is in a comatose state." Blake gasped as more tears fell from her eyes

"Not Pyrrha, what happened?"

"She was murdered, by the one who set all this up." The anger in his voice could not be concealed.

"And Ruby, will she be okay? What did they do to her?" Blake was now the one getting angry as Andrew answered her question.

"I don't know, there was a brilliant light that engulfed us all and when I could see again the killer was gone, and Miss Rose was unconscious." Blake didn't know how to feel but the sight of her fists clenching, and unclenching showed she was trying to suppress her sorrow and rage at what had happened to her friends. Still her tears fell

"Where's Ruby now?"

"On a shuttle for Vale with Miss Xiao Long. They'll be taken to the hospital for treatment but don't worry, their Uncle Qrow has gone with them so they should be perfectly safe." Blake sniffed and nodded

"Good." Andrew was feeling even more woozy as his body continued to protest about being forced to do so much after his recent injury which he showed by holding his forehead with his cybernetic hand in hopes the cool metal would sooth his aching head. When he moved his hand, he looked around the extraction zone and, in that moment, he saw Weiss walking around but when she saw Blake and Andrew she started running.

"Blake! Professor!" in a matter of seconds she was next to them. "I'm so happy to see you both." Blake put on a fake smile with tears in her eyes.

"Yeah, glad you're okay. I was worried when you and Ruby went off."

"Have you seen her? When that bright light happened, I had no idea what was going on. Some Atlas soldiers found me and force me to come back here but I can't find Ruby anywhere."

"She's already on a shuttle back to Vale." Andrew said to which Weiss sighed a breath of relief.

"Thank goodness, I was really worried about her. Now I know she's safe then we can all get out of here. The Atlas personnel are evacuating all the students now that they have area secure."

"Good, you two go and get on the shuttle and I'll do my job here." He tried moved his cybernetic leg but it didn't respond as it should have done so he fell to one knee and groaned in pain. Weiss and Blake rushed to help him up which he didn't object to.

"I think you need to get out of here to sir, you really shouldn't be here at all." Weiss' words rang true but still, he felt as though he should do something.

"I can't leave these people here to fight while I run away."

"Well if you're staying then so am I." Weiss stood proudly and Andrew had to admit defeat, he wasn't going to lose anyone else this night and especially not Weiss or Blake.

"Alright but neither of you are leaving my side until we get to safety in Vale." They both nodded and with a helping hand from Weiss, Andrew nobbled his way to the shuttles. When they were boarding, he saw several of his other students pile into the shuttle, all with the same looks on their faces of defeat and exhaustion. When it was full it took off and before he knew it, they were landing in Vale at a safe zone that looked to be well established with Atlas personnel and a few hunters.

"This looks really bad. Do you think everything is going to be okay or will Vale have to be abandoned?" Weiss asked and Andrew didn't have an answer for her so simply said

"I hope not but right now everything is uncertain." Suddenly an Atlas soldier ran up to the group

"Right, can all students please follow me to the nearby rec-centre. You will be housed there for the time being while this situation is resolved. Sleeping arrangements, water and some food will be supplied on your arrival." The students did say anything, instead they all turned towards Andrew as they waited for him to say that it was fine for them to move.

"Follow the officer, he'll take care of you all." They all reluctantly began to move over to the Atlas officer who waved them alone with him

"Come on this way! Stay close and stay together, no solo excursions please!" They all went apart from Blake and Weiss who was still holding Andrew up.

"He was talking to you two as well."

"But what about you? You still need help." Andrew almost cried in shame at the fact that Weiss was looking after him when he was the one who was supposed to be taking care of them.

"I'll be there in a little while, I just need to go at my own pace and once I've made sure everything it okay, I'll depart for the hospital. I need to go and check on Miss Rose and Xiao Long to confirm that they are being treated" He took his arm off Weiss and pointed for them to follow the rest of the students. She hesitated but started to move as did Blake, but she didn't seem to want to go at all, Andrew continued to follow them as he said he would at a much slower pace. Their safety and well-being was now his only priority so he wasn't going to slow them up and get them drawn into another one of his problems. However as he walked around a corner, he found Blake standing perfectly still with her back facing away from him, he slowly walked up to her and when he'd over taken her turned to speak.

"Miss Belladonna?" Blake didn't move and as Andrew took a step towards her, she in turn took a step back. "What's wrong?" he asked

"I can't…. I can't stay here."

"What? What are you talking about?" He went to move again but she held up a hand to stop him

"Please I can't be here anymore, I'll just make things worse." Andrew continued looking confused until his shattered mind started to put the pieces together, she was blaming herself for Yang.

"Listen, what happened to Yang wasn't your fault. You can't blame yourself for her…"

"It was my fault! If I wasn't here, then none of this would have happened! Yang, Beacon, Pyrrha, all of it!" Andrew froze at that statement

"I doubt that's true, look just come back to the rec-centre and we can calmly talk about this. You need to rest and clear you mind." She shook her head

"Sorry but I can't. I have to go, get away from everyone or you'll all be in danger." He wanted to reassure her that they could talk this out but from the sounds of things there was something else at work here. Something she wasn't and wouldn't tell him and trying to force it would have the opposite effect right now. So, he slumped

"I want to help you Miss Belladonna, I really do but from past experience I know you won't listen to what I have to say anyway." He looked up at her as she appeared to be on the verge of a breakdown knowing that she was past what help he could offer.

"I'm sorry professor but this is the right thing to do." _No, it isn't. It really isn't but I'd be a hypocrite to say that after what I've done in the past._ Just as she was about to go, he held up his hand

"Wait! If you must you go then I want you to take this." He reached under his armour and grabbed his necklace, taking it off over his head. "This might help you more than I can now, so I want you to have it." he said as he held it out to her. She took a hesitant step towards him

"What is it?"

"Something that my wife gave to me a long time ago when I was young and needed a helping hand." Blake walk over to him and gingerly took the necklace, believing that she knew what it truly meant to him.

"Why give me this? Isn't it precious to you if it's from her?"

"Very much so and that's why I'm giving it to you, I want you to look after it for me and in time I hope it'll show you the truth like it showed me."

"What do you mean?" Andrew half smiled

"You'll find out." She held it tightly and then put it around her neck.

"Thank you, professor." Andrew sighed

"Just remember that you will need to give it back to me one day Blake so take good care of it and yourself." She nodded then looked startled

"You called me Blake?"

"Well if you're leaving then you're not my student anymore so I can drop the formalities, but it doesn't mean I think any differently about you." She took a quick step forward and gave him a hug and Andrew was tempted to try and make her stay but after a few seconds realised that it wouldn't work. He'd know her long enough that if she put her mind to something then nothing would stop her.

"I'm not sure we'll see each other again." She said through his armour

"I am because when I make a promise, I make sure to keep it. So, I promise we'll meet again." Before he could hug her back, they both heard Sun's voice call out from the other end of the street

"Yo Blake! Tinman! What's up? You coming?" Andrew turned his head to see Sun walking over to them whilst waving his arm and in that time, Blake had let go of him and vanished into the night. Andrew turned back to where she had been moments before and took a wavered breath as Sun started to run over to him. "Hay! Where you going? Blake!" he stopped when he was next to Andrew "Professor? What's going on?"

"Nothing, Blake's just not going to be attending Beacon anymore." And he turned around

"Hold up what!?"

"She feels as though this isn't a good fit for her anymore and will be taking her leave."

"And you let her go?! You can't be serious!"

"Serious is all I do Mr Wukong, I can't help her anymore until she has resolved her own burdening issues. If I had had more time, then maybe I could have aided her but it's not the case anymore." Sun looked between Andrew and the vacant area where Blake was several times.

"So you're just giving up on her?" Andrew looked right at him with a glare

"Never." And he went to walk away as Sun stood perfectly still, stuck in that moment trying to figure out what to do so after a few steps he called out "I'm not stopping you from going after her."

"Huh?" Andrew turned around

"I'm not your teacher, something I'm very thankful of, so if you want to follow her then be my guest." Sun was confused while he continued looking both ways.

"This has got to be a trick or something."

"No trick, actually if you want to go then it would make things better for me not having to deal with you anymore..." After a pause he added "…and there's no one else I'd trust more to watch her back." Sun stopped moving and looked back at Andrew with a smile

"Aww, say can what you want I knew you really like me!" Andrew groaned but just before Sun ran off too, he shouted

"Oh, before I forget, here's some advice for you. When someone gives you something like I don't know an item of clothing for example, it's always best to return it in the condition in which you received it! That's something that can be applied to many things in life, understand?!" Sun gave a nervous laugh

"Ah, you mean about the… yeah sorry about…. I think I should just…" he thumbed in the way that Blake had left in as Andrew glared at him and then he was gone I a flash.

 _I've lost another one now, why didn't I just not wake up._

He was walking along in silence at a pace that was almost stationary as he headed towards the rec-centre, but his mind wouldn't calm down. He had just let two young teens run off into the night in a city under a Grimm invasion, he must have been mad to allow it however once he thought about it he knew that unless he chained Blake to him she would have run off the first chance she got.

"At the very least she's got Sun and I did part from her in good terms." After seeing both Blake and Sun run off into the unknown still forced him to rethink his mental wellbeing but even if he tried to stop them now, the condition he was in would probably make him keel over before he got hundred yards. When the centre came into view, he wasn't surprised to see Weiss standing outside but she was also with Ren and Nora and the sight of them made his heart stop.

"Oh no, I've got to tell them…wait… where's Jaune? He must be told too, oh crap. How am I ever going to tell them what happened? They deserve to know but I can't tell them the truth, there's too much they can't know." They saw him while he was talking to himself and all three ran over to him

"Professor Tinman, do you know where's Blake is? She was taking her time getting here so Sun went to find her and now he's gone too." Ren was looking as worn out from worry as he was.

"They've…. Gone."

"What?" Weiss was surprised "Where? We need to find them!" Andrew shook his head

"There's no point, Blake disappeared, and Mr Wukong went after her. I doubt that we'd be able to find either of them now." The three students shared a look

"Great! First Yang and Ruby get hurt now Blake and Sun have run off! Not to mention we still haven't seen Jaune or Pyrrha yet, where could they be? This is turning into a real mess!" Nora was looking in all direction expecting them to suddenly appear.

"I spoke with Jaune a little while ago, he said something about Pyrrha going off to fight someone and that we needed to get to the tower. When we got there though it was overrun with Grimm."

"Do you know if she's okay!?" Ren moved to stand right in front of Weiss

"I don't know. Ruby went to help but she's now in the hospital, so I assume Pyrrha's there too." Andrew took a deep breath

"No, she isn't." the three of them turned their attention to him

"What?" Nora asked, "Then where is she?"

"There's something I need to tell you all…" he tried to look them all in the eyes but he couldn't even last one second as his head fell. "Miss Nikos… while fighting the one responsible for all this…fell in battle." The gasp from Nora and Weiss pained him to hear

"That… that can't be true." Ren was trying to deny it

"As much as I wish that it wasn't, I'm afraid it is true as I was there. I saw her final moments; her murderer showed no remorse, no mercy but Pyrrha was brave until the very end." Nora fell to her knees forcing Ren to drop to his and try to comfort her as she began to cry. Weiss stood perfectly still, tears forming in her eyes but not moving a muscle. "I can't imagine how you're feeling right now but it's not safe to be out here right now." He knelt next to Nora and Ren. "There will be a time to morn for her but right now you must think about your own safety. Allow me to escort you into the rec-centre." Nora continued to cry so Ren nodded for her, he himself was on the verge of breaking down. Andrew picked up Nora and walked the three of them inside, once he had made sure that they were all safe he left them to their grief. When he walked outside, his own tears began to fall again which he tried to stop by slapping his face with his cybernetic hand.

"You can't be like this right now! Focus on helping those that are in pain and not your own!" His face ached from the slap, but it did force his mind to listen to him and his eye stopped crying. He then took a few steps forward but was stopped by Weiss

"Professor, are you okay?" Andrew looked back at her, she had been crying judging from her red eyes because of all the turmoil she'd gone through, but she still was worried about him.

"I'm fine, please go back inside Miss Schnee."

"Even about Pyrrha?" she asked, and Andrew sighed as he said

"It's a tragedy what happened to her, but I have other things that must be done right now." She didn't change her look or stance so he tried to convince her he would be okay "She wouldn't want me to be overwhelmed by this, especially since I've got my duties to accomplish. I'll be alright, just like I normally am." She shook her head

"No, you won't so I have to come with you. You said you're going to see Ruby and Yang, after what happened to Pyrrha I need to know that they are okay"

"I'll go and check for you, there's no need for you to come."

"I also know you're not as well as you say you are!" She was starting to cry again

"I'm okay Miss Schnee, honestly there's no need to…" Still crying while she spoke Weiss choked out

"I saw you in the hospital! People don't just get up and walk away from that in no time at all. Say what you want but you are not well, I know that! The professor Tinman I knew wouldn't let Blake disappear without putting up a fight, he wouldn't pass off his students to strangers without a second thought, and he wouldn't LIE!" She was now in full hysterics and Andrew felt his jaw drop.

"Miss Schnee… I didn't know you came to the hospital… I'm… I'm sorry that you had to see that. I would never have wanted you to see me like that and put you in such a state." She was still crying so Andrew walked up to her and put his hands on her shoulders "With everything that has happened tonight, I never even thought about how it would affect others, certainly not you." Weiss started to gain control over herself and wiped away her tears. What she had said was true though, he wasn't himself and if he was then he wouldn't have just let Blake go or left any of his students in a situation like this to fight by themselves.

 _What's happening to me?_ After a few more seconds Weiss was beginning to look more like herself and Andrew gave a half smile as she said.

"I'm sorry for that outburst professor, it won't happen again."

"You have nothing to apologise for Miss Schnee, I hadn't even considered how you must have been feeling over all this." He looked at the building behind her then back at her. "Come with me, I'll take you to see the rest of your team mates." As they started to walk he added "Thank you, for reminding me of who I should be." She didn't say anything but merely smiled at him and once more he wondered if he could continue like this, or should he just call it quits.

The journey to the hospital wasn't too long and luckily most of the city, even though it was battered and bruised looked to be clear of all invaders and even Ironwoods robots. There was still chaos, but it was more to do with people trying to get things back under control rather than fighting the enemy. When they arrived at the hospital, it was rammed to capacity with injured people and worried friends and family, so much so that it had spilled out into the car park. He was already looking over the area to see if he could see Ruby or Yang and for once regretted not having his cybernetic eye for it would have made this much easier. Slowly they manged to reach the hospital and made their way to the front desk where there were several members of staff frantically trying to make sense of the mayhem. When he was near the desk, he asked

"Excuse me, I know this is a lot to ask right now but…."

"I'm sorry sir but unless you have an emergency then I can't help you right now!" the woman he spoke to shouted in reply while going though a tonne of paperwork.

"I understand but I just need to know if some people have been admitted." She gave him a look that would have terrified him if he was more alert and said

"Does it look like we can help with that right now!? We've had so many people rushed in here I couldn't tell you even if I had the time to!" Andrew took a deep breath

"Please, just two girls. One with blond hair with a missing… arm and another red headed girl who was in a coma. They would have been accompanied with an older man, black hair, wearing a cape and might have smelt of alcohol." She didn't change her look

"Do you not understand, none of us have had time to see everyone enter this hospital so we just don't know!"

"That's fine, can I at least go and check myself. See if I can find them?"

"No. There are already too many people in this building as it is! You'll just have to wait until we can take a full inventory of everything that's going on before I can help you. Now if you're not suffering then please leave and let us get on with our job! Thank you!" Andrew sighed then thought about trying another tactic.

"Well how about someone who was admitted to the hospital before all this started. A man under the name of Andrew Tinman." She groaned

"I'll check if it means you'll leave me alone!" she swivelled on her seat to check her computer and after several tapes on her keyboard she looked at the image on her screen then at Andrew then back and forth between them a couple of times.

"This…this is you?" Andrew shrugged

"Yeah…"

"Your supposed to be in a coma on floor two! What are you doing here!?"

"Long story, so can I go back to my room now? Also, while I'm here, could I check to see if my friends are here too?" The receptionist was so gob smacked that she didn't say a word so Andrew half smiled and smacked the desk. "Thanks, you've been very helpful." As he walked away, he heard her call out

"Wait who are you? You can't just come in as well!" the woman was aiming her accusations at Weiss who stopped moving.

"It's alright." Andrew said, "She's with me, she's my student." And with that they both carried on walking, leaving the receptionist further confused and annoyed. Trying to get through the hospital was a nightmare and looking for two people in this mess was much more difficult than he realised.

"How are we going to find them?" he said

"I don't know. They might not even be here." Weiss remarked and Andrew nodded as it was highly likely that they could have been sent elsewhere but with Yang's injuries and Ruby's unknown state, they wouldn't be so likely sent away. They would have needed specialised care so here was the best place for them, unfortunately it also applied to many others from Vale right now. After an hour of fruitless searching they came across a nurse's station, the fifth one since they arrived, and asked

"Excuse me, do you have any admissions under the names of Ruby Rose or Yang Xiao Long?" Andrew asked the man standing there who looked at him in surprise then answered

"I can check for you sir. Just give me one second." He looked into his computer and after a few minutes replied "Sorry, not coming up. According to this they've never even entered the hospital." Andrew groaned.

"Crap, just like all the others."

"I'm sorry but with everything that's happened, I doubt that the systems have been updated yet. I wish I could help you more." Andrew waved his hand

"Don't worry about it, you're all busy right now. Sorry for bothering you." He then turned back to Weiss in defeat "At this rate I doubt we'll even find them." Weiss was beginning to look panicked

"They must be here!" she looked around then back to Andrew "But what if they're not? What if something happened to them on their way here?!" She held her head and Andrew quickly put his hands on her shoulders

"Hay, its alright. I know they made it to Vale, their uncle was with them and there's nothing that could stop him from getting his nieces to safety." He gave a look around but couldn't see anyone he knew. "We'll just keep looking. Come on Miss Schnee, we'll find them." She pulled her hands away and nodded.

"Yeah, you're right." Now Andrew had renewed determination to find them and as he was about to start the search over, he heard a feminine cough from behind him.

"Well I'm glad to see that you kept your promise Mr Tinman." Andrew sighed when he recognised this particular nurse's voice and slowly turned around.

"Hello again miss." She was the nurse who he had escaped from earlier this evening and when he saw her, he could see she was looking him up and down.

"You look terrible." Was what she finally said then continued "Was this what you were talking about earlier?" Andrew nodded

"Indeed, this is what I was trying to stop."

"I take it that this didn't go according to plan then?" Andrew shook his head

"You were right, I shouldn't have gone but I had to try. If I could have done anything to avoid this then I would have done it." She sighed

"Well you'll be glad to know your room is still empty, but it might not have been for much longer. Come on this way, lets get you back to bed." As she went to lead him away Weiss said

"Wait you can't take him, we are looking for our friends who should be here." The nurse turned to look at Weiss.

"Pardon me?"

"Sorry but we are looking for two of my friends and we can't stop yet." The nurse looked at Andrew

"She was one of the girls who came to see you the other day, is she related to you?" Andrew took a deep breath

"I don't think so but for the time being she might as well be, she's all I've got right now."

"Professor?" Weiss said and Andrew gave her a warm half smile then turned back to the nurse.

"I am trying to locate her team mates who could be here, but we haven't found them yet." The nurse looked confused.

"Why what happened to them?"

"They are two teenage girls who are related, Miss Rose and Miss Xiao Long. One of them had her arm cut off and the other is in some form of coma." The nurse rubbed her mouth with her hand for several seconds as she seemed to be deep in thought then said

"Come with me." She then proceeded to lead them to the floor below and down corridors that Andrew nor Weiss had checked and to a part of the hospital that was not at packed as the rest. After a while they ended up in a new ward and she told them to wait while she checked with her colleagues. When she came back, he waved them over.

"Follow me." She called out so Andrew and Weiss looked at each other then quickly followed her. When they reached some closed off rooms, the nurse knocked on one of the doors and then entered. "Sorry for interrupting sir but I think you have visitors." Andrew then heard Qrow's voice which sounded like someone who had just be woken up.

"Huh what? Who's come to visit them?" The nurse opened the door wider and Weiss entered the room with a quick bow followed by Andrew who was more kin to a zombie than a human now.

"Nice to meet you again erm…Ruby's Uncle." Qrow waved and then replied

"Ah Ice Queen junior. Glad to see you're alright." He then turned his attention to Andrew "So you decided to move after all, finally thinking straight are we?" Andrew sighed

"Sorry Qrow, I'm very sorry." After a while Qrow snorted and said

"Meh, as long as you're still breathing that's all that matters." Andrew tried to half smile, but it was stopped when he saw Ruby and Yang lying in two separate beds opposite each other with a few monitors and medical equipment around them. Qrow saw him then the girls and said "Don't worry they're both stable, Yang's just out cold right now and the pain killers should ease her arm. Ruby though, she's completely unconscious but all her vitals are reading fine. We just need to wait for her to wake up." Andrew almost felt his heart stop but was relived that they were at least both alive.

"Well if that's all, I need to take Mr Tinman to his room for some treatment." The nurse looked towards Andrew who didn't argue until Weiss spoke up.

"Please miss, can he stay here with us. I don't want him to be alone right now." Andrew almost started to cry again, out of all of team RWBY it was always Weiss who cared about how he was feeling the most. The nurse looked at her and after a few seconds sighed under her look.

"Very well, I can bring some of your medical equipment down here as long as you PROMISE not to leave this hospital again without me saying so! Are we clear?" Andrew let out a weak chuckle

"I promise." She sighed in response

"Great, I'll be back. Hopefully soon." When she left the room Andrew quickly followed her out and closed the door.

"Thank you, for helping Miss Schnee find her friends." He said as she turned back and smiled

"That's quite alright, I was there when they were admitted during the initial rush and knew my colleagues would know where they sent them. Unless you came across someone who saw them then I don't think you'd ever find them. At least not until we got everything under control again." Andrew bowed

"Well I am thankful that you were there. Again, thank you, from the bottom of my heart."

"They all mean a lot to you, don't they?" Andrew paused then replied

"A lot more than I should admit." The nurse sighed but suddenly she didn't look to happy and said

"I wish that you were wrong about this night and none of this had happened." Andrew raised his head

"So do I."

"I was worried about you and I still am, you're too reckless for your own good. But your heart is in the right place, I can see that."

"Thanks Miss erm…. Sorry I never got your name." he said rather embarrassed to which she smiled back and said

"I'm nurse Roe, Edna Roe."

"Thank you, Nurse Roe." She then smiled and headed off leaving Andrew to re-enter the hospital room. Weiss was standing next to Ruby while Qrow was leaning against the wall near the door.

"Chatting up the nurses, are we?" Andrew didn't reply, he had no energy left to do anything else but Qrow wasn't finished. "Listen, can I leave you with the girls for a while?"

"Sure, but why?" Andrew asked

"I need to tell Glynda and Jimmy what's happened, also I need to go and get Tai. With communications down I can't let him know what's happened to the girls. I shouldn't be too long, the trip to patch isn't a long one, I just couldn't leave them unattended. I didn't seem right and seeing as you're going to be staying here, I thought you could watch them for me." Andrew looked at both Ruby and Yang then back to Qrow and nodded his head.

"No problem, I should be able to do that without screwing it up." Qrow laughed

"You'll be fine, now I feel a lot better knowing you're back where you belong and giving you this job might mean you'll stay put." They both chuckled then Qrow patted his hand on Andrew's shoulder "See you in a bit, take care."

"You too." With that Qrow left the room and Andrew pulled a chair over to Yang's bed and fell into it so fast he thought it would break under the weight.

"Professor." Andrew tried to speak but no words came out so instead he just made a humming noise "They're going to be okay, aren't they?" Andrew then sat up right and spoke properly

"They will, as Qrow said they are just waiting for them to wake up in their own time." She didn't look to convinced so he said, "I was, wasn't I?" Weiss nodded

"I suppose you're right." Andrew looked at her standing and then saw the other empty chair so pushed himself up and went to move it for her to which she protested for him to stop.

"Oh, there's no need sir I can do it."

"It's alright Miss Schnee, for you it's a pleasure." When he moved it closer to Ruby's bed, he put it down and then returned to his seat.

"Thank you, sir." She said and he half smiled

"Your very much welcome." They then both sat looking the patients next to them and didn't say a word. After a while Weiss eventually fell asleep with her arms and head on Ruby's bed and Andrew thought she had the right idea. She had been looking after him since she found him with the added worry over her team mates and the loss of Pyrrha, she was now completely worn out. When nurse Roe came into the room with a piece of medical equipment, she began hocking it up to Andrew as quietly as she could.

"There, for the time being this will have to do. An IV line and some monitoring equipment, oh and don't think about taking any of this off again. I have friends all over this floor and there's no windows for you to jump out of this time." Andrew laughed quietly

"Damn, you've thought of everything this time." She smiled while shaking her head then raised her finger.

"Oh, also this is yours I believe." She then went and picked up something from the other side of the door. Andrew looked puzzled until he saw the familiar colour of his green jacket. "Seeing as you came back, I thought it would be fair to return you're coat." Andrew half smiled and a few tears escape his eye.

"Thank you very much Nurse Roe." She made a few checks on his machine then when she was satisfied, she patted his shoulder and left them in peace. Andrew looked at his jacket in his hands and remembered that his other belongings were in his flat that was on a now Grimm occupied school grounds. Most meant nothing like his clothes and furniture, that could all be brought again but his picture of his team, his old sweet box and his wedding ring. All of them were priceless and irreplaceable and he silently cursed that they were beyond his reach but before he got to angry, he heard murmuring from Weiss. When he looked at her, he saw she was still asleep but as he watched at her he couldn't help but think she must have been cold.

"I wish I could do something for you Miss Schnee." He said then noticed his jacket, so he got up and quietly walked over to Weiss

Looking down at her, she was still fast asleep in the chair she was in and all Andrew's mind could think was that he was so glad that she was safe and unharmed. He took his jacket and placed it over her so she wouldn't be too cold while they waited for Qrow to return, after he had done so he was about to put his hand on her head but paused before doing so. It remained there for some time as he didn't know if he should or not and finally in the end, he pulled his hand away, so he didn't disturb her while she slept.

"I hope you have a well-earned rest Miss Schnee and a dreamless sleep at the least." He then returned to his seat and slowly sat down so as not to make anymore noise that he had to. Once seated he felt his eyelid suddenly become like a lead weight and within moments, he too had fallen asleep.


	42. Just more Sorrow

**Hi to everyone reading my story, I just wanted to say a few things before you got into the chapter. Firstly I would like to apologise to you all for the spelling and grammar mistakes in my story and I will be trying much harder in the future to make sure that this doesn't ruin your reading. Also I would like to thank those who have pointed it out to me so that i can fix them, I just really wanted to get the next chapter out that my checking process has suffered.**

 **Secondly, I might not be posting another chapter anytime soon as I will be moving house in the next two weeks and getting everything reset up might take a while. I will do my best to get things back on track, my story is going to start going in interesting places soon so I hope that will keep you all hooked until I'm back to normal.**

 **Lastly this is just a general thank you to all those who are reading my story and giving me great feedback, it really helps me know that this has been well received and that you all like it. If you have any problems with the story or have any ideas then don't hesitate to drop me a message, I appreciate all feedback in hopes of improving my writing. Thanks for your time and now on with the chapter.**

* * *

With a yawn, Andrew awoke from his slumber and rubbed his eye with his left hand as he tried to come around. As he did, his thoughts began to piece together everything that had happened over the course of the nights events and as he played them out, he hoped that it was all just a bad dream. Moving his hand away told him it was false hope as he caught sight of Ruby and Yang still in their hospital bed, neither one had scarcely moved since he first nodded off to which all he could do was sigh. He looked at the monitor that was bleeping next to him to see if there was any changed in Yang's vital signs but couldn't see anything that would suggest that she was in any danger.

"At least you're still breathing." He took a breath himself and then looked over to Ruby but couldn't see her monitor from where he was sitting. He then stretched his arms and felt his body crack in a few places after sitting in a not too comfortable chair for most of the night. When he was finished, he was now beginning to come to and checked the room over once more whereby he caught sight of the seat opposite him which was empty. After only a fraction of a second of hesitation did he remember who should have been sitting there, Weiss, and shot out of his chair which was followed by a sharp pain in his arm. He looked at it and saw his IV line was still attached and was about to remove it but thought better, after what he did the last time he was in a hospital room, he decided to be more cooperative this time. Looking over at the chair he noticed that his jacket had been neatly folded and placed upon it, it was an old and worn thing that she had treated with care unaware of what it truly meant to him. He grabbed the poll that the IV bag was hung on and started to carefully manoeuvre it towards the door so he could leave. When he was out in the hall, he looked both ways to see if he could find Weiss, but it was no good as since they had arrived, many more people had been admitted so instead he looked for a member of the hospital staff to see if they had seen her. Moving through the sea of people really showed what the previous nights attack had yielded with so many people here Andrew couldn't help but wonder how many didn't make it.

"Why wasn't I more prepared?" he asked himself and continued moving. It was at this point he came across the nurse's station so leaned over to speak to a nurse who was seated at a computer. "Excuse me." The young man turned and looked over to him.

"Yes, is there something I can help you with?" He asked as he wheeled his chair over to Andrew.

"I hope so, you haven't by any chance seen a young lady walk passed here. She has white hair and dressed in a sort of formal attire?" The man shook his head

"Sorry but I haven't but we are very busy. She could have come by and we might not have even noticed. Is she a patient?"

"No, her name is Weiss Schnee and she's my…. Student." The nurse was taken back by the name

"Schnee? As in dust company Schnee?"

"That's the one."

"In that case we've definitely not seen her, when did you last see her?" Andrew paused for a moment

"Sometime last night before I fell asleep, sorry but I can't give you a time."

"Not to worry, I'll ask my colleagues to keep an eye out for her and send her your way. Where are you currently located?" Andrew gave the man the room that Ruby and Yang were in as he wasn't going anywhere else until Qrow returned. "Thanks, I can't put a search out for her, but I'll let everyone know that you're looking for her Mr…?"

"Andrew Tinman." The nurse nodded but looked confused as Andrew probably thought this man was wondering why a teacher was looking for her at a time like this. He didn't give it anymore thought and decided to return to the room. When he was there, he stood motionless outside the door thinking about what he could say to either one of the girls if they woke up before Qrow got back with Tia. They had both seen first-hand how cruel this world really was and because of that he wasn't sure how they would respond to what happened. They had been riding high on their victories over petty thugs, throw away lackeys and inexperienced Grimm so facing a real threat was a wake-up call they needed but not like this. Andrew turned around and sat on a chair outside the room, too afraid to walk in even though they would likely still be unconscious for some time yet but couldn't take the risk of them waking. He tried to make himself comfortable in his seat and simply sat there waiting for some time.

"Which room are they in?!" the familiar voice startled Andrew from his state he had been in for a while causing him to look around and see Qrow standing at the nearby nurses station with a very upset Tai leaning so much across the desk that he was just about touching the nurses face. There was some commotion as they checked their charts and eventually pointed in Andrew's direction and the pair went into a quick jog down the corridor. Qrow stopped just short while Tai flew past and entered the room.

"How are they?" Qrow asked

"Same as before, stable. Just waiting for them to regain consciousness now." Qrow released a deep breath

"Good, glad their okay." Then he looked straight at Andrew. "Damn, you look like death warmed up. Have you even slept yet?" Andrew shrugged

"Yeah, might have been drug induced though as I'm still not feeling to good."

"Have the doctors even looked you over?"

"They're really busy. I'm sure they'll get to me before too long but one of the nurses has hooked this thing up to me." He said as he gestured to the IV still hanging on the pole he was wheeling around.

"You should really be in a hospital bed."

"I know." Andrew couldn't argue with him; he hardly had the strength to stand let alone convince Qrow he was alright. "How's it looking out there?"

"Meh, not good. Vale has pretty much been secured with a few isolated Grimm sightings around, but Beacon is a whole other story. The huge frozen dragon is just constantly drawing more Grimm towards it so it's becoming impossible to get near the school."

"What's the plan then." Qrow shook his head

"For you to get seen to then sleep. There's no way I'm telling you what's happening next just in case you get the idea to break out again." Before Andrew could reply Tai walked out of the room and looked both heartbroken and relieved at the same time. "You doing okay Tai?" Qrow asked to which Tai nodded

"Just about, I knew to expect something bad when I saw what happened in the tournament but this." He turned to Andrew "Qrow told me what you did" He then proceeded to hug Andrew "Thanks for saving my daughter." Andrew halfheartedly hugged him back with only his real arm, but it felt more like he was using Tai as a prop to hold him up.

"I don't deserve your thanks; I couldn't save Yang." Tai pushed away

"You couldn't have saved them both, I'm just relieved that she's alive" With a laugh almost devoid of joy Andrew said.

"Sorry that the first time we've seen each other in so long had to be because of this. I suppose I could have just called." Tai returned the laugh in the same manner.

"Yeah, next time just come over. Would be a lot easier than waiting for a Grimm invasion." Andrew shook his head

"You know me, can't do anything without causing a scene."

"That's an understatement, Qrow tells me you were in hospital yourself but broke out when all this started up."

"Couldn't sit around when I can do some good." Qrow then scoffed

"And look where it got you now? You're incredibly lucky that you're in as good a condition as you are. You could have just as easily got yourself killed out there."

 _That was the plan, in part._

"I know, I just wasn't thinking straight." Tai then patted Andrew on the shoulder

"No difference there then." Andrew was going to come back with a comment of his own but instead slumped in defeat with a big sigh.

"Tai, don't tell Ruby what I did." Tai then looked confused

"Why?"

"I don't want her thinking that she caused me any problems, she'll probably think it's her fault if she sees me like this." Qrow scoffed

"I doubt she'll remember much from last night anyway. I'll tell her I got her out of there, will that do?" Andrew nodded and the three of them looked at the room the girls were in. When Andrew turned away, he saw Weiss walking down the corridor holding two cups, when she saw that Andrew was standing outside the room with Qrow and Tai she did pause briefly.

"It's okay ice princess, there's no need to stand over there." Qrow then waved her over and she acknowledged him. When she was closer her attention focused on Andrew.

"Professor, are you alright?" Andrew looked at his IV line in his arm then looked back to her and gave a half smile so pathetic that none of the people present believed what he said next.

"I'm doing better than I was last night thanks. What about you Miss Schnee?"

"I'm fine sir, I just went to go and get you a drink. Thought you might like one when you woke up." Andrew nodded

"Thanks, but you should have told me where you were going. I didn't know what had happened to you while I was asleep." Weiss suddenly looked disheartened.

"Sorry professor, I didn't want to wake you and honestly thought I wasn't going to be long. Getting anything here right now is difficult so I had to wait."

"Don't worry I'm not mad I just…" he was going to say something but stopped short and thankfully Qrow picked up on it.

"I think you still need to rest up, can't be good for you to be moving around seeing as you've still got your own complaints to sort out." Andrew nodded to Qrow

"Yeah, but I don't think I'll be able to find a bed to lay down in at the moment so this seat will have to do." He almost fell back down in the seat he had claimed outside the room.

"Yeah, you really need to take it easy. Now I'm going back in there with my daughters, I'm not leaving them until they wake up." Tai then grabbed Andrew's cybernetic arm. "Thanks for staying with them." Andrew once again nodded with a weak half smile as Tai returned to the room. Weiss then walked up to Andrew and held out one of the cups she was holding.

"Here you go sir, I didn't know what you would like so I hope tea with milk is alright." Andrew held out his hand and carefully took it from her.

"It's just what I needed, thank you." she now looked a bit happier but as Andrew took a sip, he noticed that it was missing sugar. _Argh, it's a bit more bitter than I normally have it._

"Is it okay sir?" not wanting to say anything to upset Weiss, Andrew took another bigger sip then said

"It's good." Weiss made a short curtsy and smiled

"That's alright then sir. Do you want me to see if I can get a bed for you? Maybe if I use my name then they might find one quicker." Andrew shook his head.

"No don't do that. There are so many other people here that need beds that I'm content in waiting for one to come along when it's ready." Weiss didn't seem to like the answer; it was clear she was worried about him and only wanted him to get the medical attention he needed. However, Andrew knew that all he really needed was rest and as proven he could get that in this chair just as easily as any hospital bed. Qrow put his hands in his pockets and went to leave.

"Well, I'd better get back to Glynda. With Ozpin gone she's now in charge and she's got a lot to do. You'd better stay here this time until you're ready to leave, understand?" Qrow pointed at Andrew to get his point across and Andrew didn't argue as Qrow left them alone.

"Why don't you take a seat in there professor?" Weiss asked as she gestured towards the room with Ruby and Yang inside.

"Their father is with them; I don't want to disturb them and there's only one more seat in there for you, so I'll wait out here."

"In that case I'll stay here with you." Weiss then looked around for another chair but couldn't see one.

"There's no need Miss Schnee, you stay with your team mates. I'll most likely be asleep in minutes so I won't be very entertaining company. Thank you for offering though." Weiss once more looked a little defeated but did curtsy and went into the room with her team mates.

Sure enough Andrew once again passed out in his seat and for the next few hours was almost in a coma himself as his body tried to regain the energy it had expended. Eventually he was seen by a doctor who assessed his condition which was not as bad as Andrew thought it would be. Seeing as he had already demonstrated from his actions the previous night that his body and brain were functioning properly, the doctor wasn't too thorough. Even his semblance control was working fine so the doctor recommended that Andrew stay till the following morning and then he would more than likely be discharged. The hospital was still full of people who had far more severe injuries, so Andrew just assumed that they didn't have time to deal with someone who was just tired with a headache.

The following morning happened just as the doctor had said when nurse Roe came and detached his line and gave him a once over herself which she stated was just for her own piece of mind.

"There we go, all done." Andrew half smiled at her

"Thank you. Now I think I'd better get out of your hair before anything else happens." She laughed

"Yes, that was far too much excitement for me." Andrew laughed back and grabbed his jacket as she added "Please take care of yourself Mr Tinman." Her tone of voice showed that she did care and wasn't something she would just say to any patient.

"I will and once again thank you. Will you keep an eye on the girls for me?"

"Of course. Oh, that reminds me, Yang is awake now so would you like to go and see her? You seemed very upset when you first saw her." Andrew didn't even hesitant to shake his head

"No, not right now. She doesn't want to see me; I'll just make things worse." Nurse Roe looked disappointed with him

"I thought you cared about her?"

"I do… but she doesn't want a reminder of what she will become sitting across from her, its still very raw for her." He tapped his arm a few times while he spoke emphasise what he was talking about and nurse Roe reluctantly nodded.

"I see, will she be able to get a replacement arm? They are rather expensive and if not made by a skilled enough tech will be ineffectual for her career." Andrew felt a shiver run up his spine when that statement hit home.

"We'll see about that." Was all he said then he made a polite bow and left the hospital. He wanted to head home but his home was now in Grimm occupied territory so he thought the next best place would be the newly formed command centre in Vale to see if he could be of assistance. He also needed to check in with the rest of the brotherhood to get all the information they had gathered about the attack.

The building that was being used to coordinate the kingdom's response was the main Vale police station and inside were not only police but soldiers from Atlas and several hunters. As Andrew moved through the station, he reached a conference room that was being used to map out the current known Grimm nests that had been established in the city and thankfully there were only a few dotted on the map. This wasn't the focus of Andrew's attention though as standing in there with a couple of other people was Glynda, Andrew looked through the window and after a few seconds saw her notice him. She froze on the spot with an expression that he'd never seen before so tried to defuse the situation with a half-smile. Glynda marched her way out of the room and right towards Andrew but before he could say anything, her hand slapped him across his face with tremendous force. Andrew's head was knocked sideways and as he reached up with his hand to hold his face while she almost screamed

"YOU! You idiot! Why didn't you just stay where you were!? When I found out you had left the hospital, I was worried sick about where you'd gone and what you were doing!"

"Ouch… I'm sorry, I thought that…"

"You're sorry?! No! That's not good enough, nowhere near good enough!"

"I know you're mad but there was no need to worry…"

"Do you know how many people died last night? How many of them were hunters?" Andrew shook his head "Too many. When I heard you'd gone, and we couldn't find you I was thinking that I wasn't going to find you until we tallied up the dead!"

"Glynda…"

"I thought you'd died!" she was now starting to show signs of tears and Andrew was speechless. "We've lost so much now; I couldn't bare losing another friend. Especially after almost loosing you just a few days ago. Can you stop trying to kill yourself…? Please." The last word saw her give in to tears, not many but enough so see them start to fall down her cheeks. He felt even lower than he'd already felt and took a step towards her and gave her a hug.

"I cannot apologise enough for doing that to you, but as you can see I'm fine. I'm alive and I promise that I've got no intention of dying anytime soon. Please don't waste anymore tears on me, I'm not going anywhere." She then let out a few sobs and returned the hug and for several minutes they stood there, all the while Andrew thought about their last conversation before all this happened. When he so calmly and coldly spoke about himself throwing his life away for their cause and now he was seeing what that truly meant to her. When they ended their hug, he said

"I'm sorry about Ozpin, I tried to save him, but I didn't get there in time. I also couldn't save young Miss Nikos, I just wanted to help but I couldn't do that from a hospital bed, and as it turns out I didn't make a difference anyway."

"I'm just happy you're alive. What happened to Ozpin and Pyrrha was tragic, but we can't let that stop us from carrying on and protecting innocents." Andrew looked at Glynda then with a nod agreed with her statement then he started to rub the side of his face which she had just slapped.

"That really hurt you know."

"Good. Then maybe you won't pull a stunt like that again."

"Why do I always get slapped by women? Is it something I'm doing or do I just have a slap-able face?" Glynda then laughed.

"Bit of both." Which caused Andrew to laugh briefly then he asked her.

"Where's Ironwood?" she didn't look impressed

"Now before you start causing trouble again, I think you should know that during the attack James was on the front lines with us so I can vouch…"

"Don't worry. I don't think he's a traitor anymore, but I do need to see him so can you tell me where he is?" Glynda the pointed down the corridor

"He's in the office second one on the left. He's going over the Atlas losses after the Elysium air ships were brought down." Andrew looked where she pointed then smiled back at her

"Thanks, I'll speak to you later." And he left her to continue her work in the conference room she had been in before. Even though the walk to Ironwoods office was short, it felt longer as Andrew wasn't sure how this was going to go down, but it was something that he had to do. Finally, he reached the office that was Ironwoods temporary command centre and with a laboured breath, built up the strength and courage to knock on the door. It was just a single knock that wasn't very loud, but it served its purpose.

"Come in." he heard Ironwood say and slowly, Andrew turned the handle and entered the room. Ironwood was standing behind the desk in the room while he was looking over several documents at once and it took him a few seconds to realise who was there. "Ah, Andrew. I heard you were up and about, glad to see you're doing okay." Andrew tried to smile

"Thank you, James." The words were enough to cause Ironwood to double take from his reading.

"You're welcome." He replied with a hint of confusion.

"I am told you came to see me while I was in the hospital. I didn't deserve that kindness, so I must thank-you again."

"Well… Think nothing of it. We are colleagues after all." Ironwood was now giving Andrew his full attention. "Is there something I can help you with?" he was sincere in his question and Andrew sighed

"There is but before that there is something else I must say first." He waited for Ironwood to acknowledge his request which he did with a single nod. "I must apologise for how I have treated you of late."

"Really? Why?" Andrew knew this was going to hurt but it needed to be done.

"I for some time have suspected you of being a traitor, I fully believed that the set of circumstances that led to the attack on the school had been planned in part by you." Ironwood's face was suddenly not amused

"You thought I had something to do with this?"

"Yes… I did."

"In what world would I have betrayed Ozpin or any of you? I've always put the safety of Remnant and its people before anything else!"

"I believe that now, I heard what happened to your ships and men. I know that no matter what I thought of you that you would never have thrown all those lives away, even you aren't that cold."

"Thanks, I guess."

"I was clouded by my own opinions of you and created a story to explain what was going on and put you at the heart of it. Ozpin kept telling me I was wrong, but I just wouldn't listen to him." He could tell that Ironwood was angry but to his credit he didn't let it spill over.

"You could have compromised the whole situation if you had been stupid enough to act on it. I think it was lucky that you did end up putting yourself in a coma before you did something that would have made things worse." Andrew had to contain himself as he already knew that after he'd attacked Ozpin and put so many others in harm's way because he couldn't control himself.

"But…" Andrew looked up at Ironwood "Nothing came of it in the end and even though we lost this battle, there is still a war to win and I hope that now we can work better together to overcome this crisis." Ironwood walked around the desk and stood before Andrew, after a moment he raised his hand which Andrew took.

"Sure, I still think you're a jackass though, but I no longer think you're a scumbag." Ironwood signed

"So, we're just back to normal then?"

"No, I'm willing to work with you and cooperate with Atlas forces. I don't want our past experiences to further hinder our work." With a smile Ironwood said

"I'll take what I can get from you." Andrew let go of Ironwoods hand and stood more to attention as Ironwood moved to his desk. "Now, you did say you wanted help with something?" Andrew nodded

"Yeah, could you get your techs to fix my head piece. After the gun shot it's kinda screwed up." He said while taping his head piece as Ironwood let out a single laugh.

"I can certainly get that sorted for you, but you will need to accompany me back to Atlas when I leave. We'll need to make sure that the procedure is conducted with the upmost care, we still don't know what has truly happened to the rest of your brain." Andrew nodded

"Good, that's not a problem for me. Also, can you do something else while you're at it?" Ironwood stopped and looked at Andrew waiting for him to speak. "I need a new cybernetic arm making." With a puzzled look, Ironwood asked

"Why? Is there something wrong with that one?" and pointed to his cybernetic arm to which Andrew shook his head

"No, this one's fine. I need you to make one for Miss Yang Xiao Long. During the battle she was injured and lost her right arm so she will be needing a new one." Ironwood continued to look puzzled

"I'm sure that she or her family could ask for one themselves."

"Tai isn't the kind of man who would have that much money saved away to afford one, also it's my fault that she lost that arm in the first place so I'm going to pay."

"Am I to believe that you have that much money to pay for it?"

"Not all of it but I'm willing to work out a deal with you to get one." Ironwood broke away for a moment and went to his office window. "You know I'm good for it because once I make a promise, I keep it." Ironwood didn't answer "Come on, you want me to beg?" For a few minutes neither one said a word and Andrew wondered if this was Ironwoods sick idea of payback against him. As he was about to become hostile to get his deal through, Ironwood finally said

"I'll make an arm for the young lady and it will be top of the line, a perfect tool for a huntress in training." Andrew felt like hugging Ironwood at that moment, but it was short lived when he added "On the condition that you leave Beacon Academy and come and work for me at Atlas."

"What?"

"I want you teaching my students, you have a few personality quirks that I could do without but I cannot deny your skill as a hunter and a teacher. I want you to teach my students and help create a new wave of hunters that will be unstoppable soldiers in the war to come." Andrew took a long deep breath before he spoke

"So, it's either help you train soldiers or screw over Yang."

"Your talents will be wasted here as with the school…" Before Ironwood could finish Andrew interrupted

"I'll do it." This reply stunned Ironwood for a few seconds

"Wow, I honestly thought I was going to need to really twist your arm. I never thought you would just accept it right away. I have to ask why though?"

"You're making me choose between my student, the daughter of one of my few remaining close friends or my own happiness in working at Beacon. There was only going to be one answer." Ironwood sighed

"There's no need to say that Andrew, I can assure you that Atlas is not as bad as you think it is."

"I don't think, I know. Remember I went to Atlas when I was younger, and I know what kind of people live there."

"Come on, they're not all like that. You can't honestly say that Vale is any different." _No but at least they try to hide it rather than display it with pride._

"Whatever James, I will say though that you will let me finish the school year here so I can put all my affairs in order before I leave. Then I will start at Atlas in the new school year on the very first day of term, do we have an accord?" Ironwood paused for several seconds then smiled as if he'd achieved a victory.

"Very well, then as soon as I'm back in Atlas I will have a new arm created for Yang Xiao Long and you will then join the Atlas teaching staff in the new school year." He walked back over to Andrew and held out his hand so they could seal the deal to which Andrew took without question. "Don't worry Andrew, everything will be fine. With Ozpin gone, the best place for you now is Atlas. We will be able to maintain your parts and keep you in top shape and we can also plan the next stage in this conflict together." Andrew just wanted Ironwood to shut up but also didn't want to piss him off now that he needed him to do something for him.

"Yeah, we'll see." He said, detaching his hand then went to leave the office but just as he was about to open the door Ironwood called out.

"You won't find a way out of this or back out at the last minute I trust?" Andrew's cybernetic hand had grabbed the door handle and began to squeeze

"I would never do that; unlike you I keep my promises to the very end." And then he pulled the door open and marched out, unaware that the handle was now a twisted shape of its former self.

The rest of the day went by without too much trouble and seeing as he still wasn't in top form, he took it easy and left most of the work to others. When the day was over, he spent the night in a makeshift bed at the police station so that if anything did come up he could assist them as he didn't want to fail again by going off on his own. The following morning he was given a change of clothes so that he could finally get out of his armour, being in it for all this time just didn't feel right anymore. The rest of the morning was unassuming until Ironwood mentioned that they had received a close communication signal from an Atlas ship coming towards Vale. Because the CCT was down, this was the earliest they could receive the message from the approaching airship what was already in Vale airspace.

"Who is it?" Asked Glynda and Ironwood stood straight

"Jacques Schnee." Andrew and Glynda were both shocked hearing this

"What's he doing here?" she asked

"He's come to collect Miss Schnee. He doesn't want her staying here any longer so has come to collect her personally."

"Has anyone told her?"

"I sent one of my men to go and collect her as soon as I got the message." Andrew sighed

"She's perfectly fine right here, everything is pretty much under control now."

"That won't matter to Jacques. When he wants something, he gets it. Although I would like to ask that you go and receive him for me, I've still got too much to do and my ship will be here within hours to collect my men seeing as they are no longer needed."

"What do you mean no longer needed? This is still a precarious situation, and anything could happen without those soldiers." Glynda snapped

"And what about Atlas? I need to protect my kingdom as well; I can't sit down here when my home might be next." Glynda glared at Ironwood then looked at Andrew like she was waiting for him to say something.

"Don't you have something to say?" Andrew sighed as he wanted to side with her but now he needed to do as Ironwood said so he didn't have any reason to back out of his promise.

"He has a point. Besides, we have enough people here now that all the nearby hunters have been called in. We have an army of our own now." She was astounded by his response and Ironwood nodded.

"Exactly, now if you could both go and meet Jacques, I would appreciate it. Don't be late, he is not a man you should keep waiting." Glynda looked ready to explode but she contained herself as Ironwood walked away so the pair of them left the police station.

When they reached the designated landing area for the Atlas ship, it was already visible in the sky and heading towards them. When it landed, they both braced themselves for the man that would meet them as the landing ramp descended with a group of men already walking down it. Walking towards them were several Atlas personnel with the head of the Schnee Dust company just behind them standing tall so as he could look down his nose at everyone around him.

"Don't say anything to upset him." Glynda said as a warning to Andrew so he wouldn't fly of the handle with an inappropriate but necessary remark. Andrew had only heard about Jacques from other people and had never met him before, although from what Weiss had told him about Jacques he knew he already detested the man.

"As long as he doesn't then we'll be fine." After a few more seconds the group reached them with the soldiers parting to let Jacques Schnee through.

"Welcome to Vale Mr Schnee, I'm Glynda Goodwitch and this is…" before she could finish, she was cut off

"Save me your forced pleasantries, I'm here to collect my daughter and that is all. Bring her to me so that I can leave this backwards kingdom and return to my abode where it is safe." Glynda didn't carry on with her welcome speech and stood properly to attention.

"Mr Schnee, I can assure you that you are quite safe now. The situation in the kingdom is well under control and the Grimm have been dealt with."

"That's great but if you failed once then you'll probably fail again so just bring me my daughter so I can be on my way. I have a lot of important tasks that require my attention and I've already been here longer than I wanted to be."

"You not even going to ask how she is?" Andrew said in a sly tone

"And who… or what are you?" Andrew snorted at Jacques accusation, but it was Glynda who answered

"This is professor Tinman and he's one of Miss Schnee's teachers. He will also remember his place." She gave him a look telling him to behave or else and Andrew backed down.

"He looks like one of Ironwood's creations." Jacques wasn't even trying to hide his contempt for Andrew "Now this will be the last time I'll ask this, where is my daughter?"

"I'm here father." Weiss walked towards the group in a proper manner befitting her title "Sorry to make you wait, I was just gathering my things."

"Good, now it's time we departed here. Come alone." Jacques was already turning to leave as Weiss asked

"Might I at least say goodbye to my teachers before I leave. I don't want leave on a bad impression." Jacques turned and looked annoyed but after several long moments he sighed

"Very well but be quick about it, I shall be waiting in the air ship." Weiss gave a quick curtsy and turned to Glynda and Andrew as her father left with his soldiers.

"I'm sorry that I must leave now but I would like to say thank you for everything that you have taught me, and I hope that I may return one day." Glynda smiled

"It was our pleasure Miss Schnee. We are sorry to see you leave." Glynda put on a sincere smile then patted Andrew on his back.

"Indeed, your presence will not go unnoticed around here." he blurted out and Glynda saw that he wouldn't say what he wanted to with her around, his pride at keeping up his persona around her was holding back his true feelings.

"I need to leave you now; I have many other responsibilities I must attend to. I trust you'll see Miss Schnee off Professor Tinman?" He didn't seem to be impressed with her at that moment but the look he gave her after he yielded told her everything she needed to know. "Very well. Good bye Miss Schnee." Glynda bowed and took her leave of the pair.

"She's going to be very busy, now isn't she?" Weiss asked as they both watched her walk away to which Andrew sighed.

"That's an understatement. Now that Ozpin is gone, she'll be acting headmistress until we pick up the pieces and rebuild the school. To be fair I think she'd be a perfect fit and should stay in that role."

"I think you would be a fine headmaster too professor." Andrew laughed

"I'll take your word for it, personally it would be a catastrophe waiting to happen." She smiled at him and then they both sighed "You know if you're not happy with returning with your father then you are more than welcome to remain here."

"Thank you, Professor, but I should go. If my father has come to collect me himself then I can't get out of this one."

"If you're sure that's what you must do, but if you need me to cause a distraction while you make a run for it then I'll do it." Weiss chuckled

"I think team RWBY has been rubbing off on you sir, going against the rules to help your friends." Andrew paused then half smiled.

"I don't know why but I feel annoyed and happy at the same time at that comment." Weiss chuckled a little more as Andrew shook his head "You've only been here for one full semester, yet it feels like a lifetime… I'm not sure if things will ever be the same now you and Blake are gone."

"I know what you mean professor. I'm sorry I couldn't stay; I would have enjoyed it very much to continue on here." She paused then looked embarrassed but before he could say anything she added "I'm really going to miss you sir." Andrew sighed

"And I you Miss Schnee, but now you're no longer my student you may call me Andrew. I'm not your teacher anymore."

"I'll try, sir. And you may call me Weiss." Andrew shook his head

"No, you are still an heiress and a lady of proper standing. Miss Schnee it will remain, calling you by anything less would be disrespectful."

"No, it's quite alright…" Andrew held up his hand to stop her

"I must insist Miss Schnee." He made a sombre bow "Please take care of yourself Miss Schnee. If you ever need anything of me then all you need to do is ask." He suddenly remembered that with the tower down there would be no way of contacting each other efficiently and a fear overtook him as to her safety. Before it could overwhelm him, she had moved over to him as he stood up and gave him a hug.

"Thank you, for everything you've done for me. I hope it won't be too long before we see each other again." Andrew put his real arm around her.

"My pleasure Miss Schnee, I'm sure we'll see each other before too long. As for now I think I've kept you long enough." She let go of him and the two gave each other one last smile each and then Weiss left for the airship her father was waiting in. When she boarded it, she made one last look towards Andrew who hadn't moved an inch and then the ramp folded away while the door closed. With that another member of team RWBY was gone and he wanted to scream at the unfairness of this world, whenever he let people into his life, they were forced to leave him. As the ship got further and further out of sight, he stood there watching it leave until Glynda came back to collect him.

"Are you alright Andrew?" Andrew snorted

"No, should I be."

"I only asked…"

"Why did you all do this to me?"

"Excuse me?"

"You, Qrow, even Ozpin. You make me care about people then when it all goes wrong, I lose them all. Couldn't you have just left me alone."

"You can't mean that."

"I do. At the very least I wouldn't suffer this much."

"Andrew, as much as you think otherwise you can't live all by yourself. Could you honestly say that you would have been better off not knowing everyone that you've met?" Andrew was silent for a minute and eventually sighed in reluctance.

"Suppose I did need some of them but why do you all make me care about them more than I should have?" Glynda put a reassuring hand on his shoulder

"We didn't make you care; you did that yourself. Like it or not that is just who you are, you've been drawn to people that need help and, in the end, they've helped you in turn." Andrew turned to look at Glynda and half smiled.

"Broken things seek out broken things in hopes of fixing each other, is that about right?" Glynda let out a single laugh.

"Something like that. Come on or you'll get cold standing out here on your own." They then both headed towards the building that they had made their temporary headquarters. "Did you know that Tai is taking his daughters back to Patch tomorrow?" Andrew shot her a look that she thought was fear.

"Is Ruby okay then?!"

"Well, she is but she still hasn't woken up yet. Tai thought it would be best if he took her and Yang home seeing as they are both well and they just need time to get over this." Andrew was really beginning to feel lonely now, with them gone he really didn't feel like anything would be the same again.

"If that's what Tai thinks is best, I can't talk after what I did in the hospital."

"They'll be fine Andrew. They survived a semester with you didn't they." Andrew let out a short chuckle. "You'll see them all again. By the way with the school no longer in use, all the other students are being sent home for the time being until we can get things back on track."

"I see, guess that's the best thing for them. Also, I'd better tell you that I'm heading to Atlas for a while to get this thing looked at so I'll be gone for some time, but I'll be back." Glynda didn't think anything of that, after seeing the damaged cybernetic head piece she knew he would need to get it repaired.

"Very well, you had better say your goodbyes then for they'll all be gone by the time you get back." Andrew sighed and decided that he should see his students before he left seeing as Ironwood could be leaving anytime now.

"Okay I'll do that now. See you in a bit." He peeled off from Glynda and went to the rec-centre that was being used to house the students. His goodbyes were much shorter than the one with Weiss but they all still affected him the same way, his life was all about the status quo and any changes to that made him apprehensive and concerned as to what it would lead to. When he was leaving the building, he stood tall and went to walk away but then noticed one student he'd not spoken to, Jaune. He felt a lump in his throat as he tried to think over what he needed to say to the young man but no matter what came to mind nothing seemed right. In the end he decided to say what was in his heart and hoped it was what he needed to hear. He walked over to Jaune who was sitting on the curb of the street and slowly sat down next to him, Jaune had his head in his knees and Andrew could tell he was crying which he could hardly blame him for. After a moment Jaune realised that he had company and looked up at Andrew, wiping away his tears he then greeted him

"Oh, professor Tinman…" Andrew waved him off and then placed his real hand on Jaune's shoulder.

"Mr Arc, how are you doing?"

"Not good sir. Can't seem to stop crying at the moment." He said while wiping his eyes again.

"No need to hold it in on my account Mr Arc. You need to let this out in your own time." Jaune nodded.

"Yeah. I just can't believe she's gone… why did she do it? Why didn't she let me come with her? I could have helped even if just a little bit, surely sir?" Andrew took a deep breath

"There's no knowing if you being there or not would have made a difference but if I may so blunt, I think you would have fallen along with her if you had gone. She saved your life in the end." Jaune slowly put his head back between his knees and Andrew sighed "She really cared about you; I hope you know that." Jaune nodded and started to cry again.

"I do and I… I… cared for her too." The way he was speaking now Andrew could tell that in the end she must have told him which was why he was taking this so much harder. Andrew then reached and pulled something from his belt he'd been keeping with him and held it out to Jaune.

"I think you should have this, I recovered it from the tower." Jaune looked up at the item and froze for a few seconds at the sight of Pyrrha's head piece, he carefully took it then held it tightly to his chest and continued to cry. Andrew put his arm around Jaune and couldn't help but feel like crying himself, Pyrrha was a phenomenal person and now her story was cut short before she even had the chance to become someone this world truly needed.

"I shouldn't have let her go. Why didn't I stop her!" He was almost in hysterics now

"You couldn't have stopped her, she was determined."

"I could have tried! I might have if I just hadn't let her go." He was now crying in full "It's my fault she's dead!" he shouted out through his tears and Andrew couldn't bare it, he couldn't see another student blame themselves for something they couldn't control. As he looked at Jaune he tried to think of something he could do to help him, but nothing would stop him from thinking he was the cause of Pyrrha's death.

 _Or maybe there is_

"Mr Arc." Jaune still teary eyed looked up at him

"Yeah."

"I was the reason for her death."

"What?" Andrew slumped forward.

"She was doing what I should have been doing but because I was incapacitated, she had to complete my duties for me."

"That can't be right, why would she need to do that? No, she didn't say anything about that, only that she had to stop that woman."

"That was what I needed to do but I was laid up in a hospital bed from my own faults" Jaune shook his head not wanting to accept it so Andrew pushed him so that he would.

"I told her once that I would be there for her and in the end, I failed her by leaving her all alone to face someone she had no chance of defeating. They were just empty hollow words I told her with no meaning behind them at all. I made her think she could do it by telling her she was the best, I shouldn't have given her my responsibilities, but I was too weak, too cowardly to do my own job. Because of me she died on that tower and now I've stolen the life she should be living."

"Shut up…" Jaune wheezed out

"I keep trying to tell myself that I could have made it but in truth I think I didn't want to reach that tower, I was afraid of what might happen, so I left her to face it instead."

"Shut up…" he was getting visibly angrier.

"Could I have done something to avoid this? I guess I will never know now, I had so many students that I had to teach, and she seemed to already have everything down, so I didn't think I needed to teach her. I never considered her feelings in all this."

"I said shut up…" he was now getting ready to explode.

"I was her teacher, her guide, someone she should have trust in. I was none of those things, I neglected her believing that she didn't need my support. I should have talked with her and learnt from her as she learnt from me, all I did though was ignore her and push her into this. She tried to do too much, and I never even acknowledge her, she was just another student number to me… no one special." Jaune let loose a scream and unleashed a punch that hit Andrew right in the cheek and knocked him off balance even while sitting. He slowly brought his hand up to his face and began to rub it

"You bastard! How can you say that about her!?" Andrew didn't look at Jaune and continued to rub his face "She admired you! She looked up to you! When you were in hospital, she was distraught, thinking you would die nearly broke her heart!" Andrew held his hand in place and as he ran his tongue the inside of his mouth, he tasted the smallest hint of blood. Suddenly he felt Jaune grab him by his jacket and pulled him so he would look at his face. "And after all that you didn't even care?! How could you!?" he then punched Andrew in the face, on the bridge of his nose which made him fall back again but was held in place by Jaune still holding on to his Jacket.

"I can't go around being a personal mentor to everyone, I didn't have time for her." Jaune pulled him up again as he roared in anger.

"But you have time for team RWBY!? For Me!? You gave all of us your time and when Pyrrha needed you most you abandoned her! You know what I'm glad she's not her to hear this, if she had known then she would have been destroyed. She told me that you were one of the best teachers here and now I find out you're a stinking fraud! Hiding behind false words to sound better than you are!" He raised his fist but as Andrew braced himself for the punch, nothing happened and as Jaune released him, allowing him to fall back and look up at him. "No, you're not worth it. If Pyrrha wasn't worth your time then you're not worth mine. I don't ever want to see you again! I'm out of here, I know you're going to rot in hell for what you didn't do for her. I hope that on day when you are choking on your last breath, I get to see it and know that you'll know how she felt before she died you evil freak!" Jaune marched away from him and Andrew wiped his nose and found some more blood there too, after examining his nose fully he could tell it wasn't broken. Once Jaune was clean out of sight, he stood up and brushed himself off and half smiled

"At least you're blaming the right person now Jaune." A tear escaped his eye and as he went to wipe it away another came, and then another. Before anyone else could see him, he walked away to find somewhere he could be alone, he was losing everyone he cared about which almost made him completely breakdown.

 _I hope you're happy knowing he's not upset at himself anymore Pyrrha, from now on I'll bear the responsibility of your death alone as the one who failed you._


End file.
